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SKETCHES 



MEN OF PEOGEESS. 



JAMES PAKTON. BAYARD TAYLOR. HON. AMOS KENDALL, 
REV. E. D. MAYO. J. ALEXANDER PATTEN. 

AMD OTHER WRITERS. 



EMBELLISHED WITH HANDSOME STEEL PORTEATTS 
IJv ItlTCHIE, FERINE, and HALL, 



\o species iif willing nens more worthy of cnltlTsUon than blograpliy -Zo/i; /.(.■»» 



NEW YORK AND HARTFORD PUBLISHING COMPANY. 
GREER & COMPANY, CINOINNATL 
1870-18^. 



CONTENTS. 



VOLIO 

Chapin, Edwin Hubbell 1 

Bryant, William Cullen 7 

Hoffman, John T 13 

Field, David Dudley 23 

McCormick, Cyrus Hall 31 

Grow, Galusha A 61 

Morgan, Edwiu D. 69 

Childs, G. W." 75 

Gerard, James W 91 

^ Webb, W. H ,i 103 

Pierrepoiit, Edwards 113 

Smith, K, Delafield 117 

Drew, Daniel 143 

Johnston, John Taylor 155 

English, James E 163 

Kelley, William D 171 

Tildon, Samuel J. ., 181 

Gough, John B 191 

t/^ Garrison, C. K. . . . .^ 195 

Willmarth, Arthur F 203 

Vaiiderbilt, William H 209 

Barnes, Alfred S 213 

Weed, Thurlow 221 

Leland, Stanford 227 

Durant, Thos. C 245 

Scott, Thomas A 253 

Boker, George H 237 

Clews, Henry. 267 

Allison, W. C 275 

Hepworth, Rev. G. H 279 

Gould, Jay 287 

Holland, Josiah G 301 

Burchard, Rev. S. D 307 

Newberry, J. S 313 

Peak, William 1 321 

Vanderpoel, Jacob 325 

Pomeroy, S. C 327 

Pratt, Zadock 337 

Griswold, John A 343 

Webb, James Watson . . V. 349 

Roosevelt, James 1 405 

Rement, William B 41 1 

u Morgan, Charles x 419 



IK>LIO 

Phillips, Philip 425 

Hooker, Joseph 433 

Taylor, James B 439 

Baird, Matthew 441 

Clay, Cassius Marcellus 447 

Hatch, Rufus 453 

Wilson, Henry 457 

Saxe, John G 465 

Cas.s, Gen. George W 469 

Singerly, Joseph 475 

Heintzelman, S. P 481 

Spencer, James C 489 

Stranahan, J. S. T 493 

Parnum, Henry 501 

Corning, Erasttis 509 

De Peyster, John W 617 

Hulburd, Calvin T 527 

Hastings, S. Cliiiton 533 

Seymour, S 541 

Van Anderi, Isaac 555 

Kimball, H. 1 565 

Bullock, Rufus B 509 

Quintard, George W. . .% 573 

Talmage, Rev. T. De Witt 577 

Beckwith, N. M 583 

Dillon, Sidney 587 

Lawrence, Wm. B., LL. D 595 

Lawrence, Albert G 611 

Selftver, A. A 617 

Hulburd, Hiland R 623 

Vanderpoel, Aaron J 631 

Hazard, Augustus G 635 

Blaine, James G 647 

Palmer, Oliver H 657 

Lefferts, Marshall 661 

Barnes, Demas 669 

Plimpton, James L 675 

De Graaf, Henry P 683 

Divine, William 687 

Hoadley, David 697 

Bradford, George P 691 

Smith, John Gregory 701 

Smith. M. C 70T 




^. 



'^ c^A-f^/L^. 




EDWII^ HUBBELL OHAPIK 

BY DR. MAYO. 

DWIN HUBBELL CHAPIK was bom in Union Village, 
Washington County, K Y., December 29, 1814. The 
county of Washington might be selected as a model county 
to illustrate the working of republican institii.tions in the Uiiitc<! 
States, being originally peopled by a substantial race of Scutclunen, 
and remarkable for the intelligence, prosperity, and progi-essivo 
spirit of its people. The academical education of Dr. Chapin was 
received at a seminary in Bennington, Vt., and his early tastes ai'c 
said to have inclined to the study of law. From tliis he was soon 
attracted to the associate editorship of the Magazine and Advocate, 
one of the early Universalist newspapers in Utica, and at the age of 
twenty-three, after some experience of preaching, commenced his 
ministry as pastor of the Independent Christian Church of Kich- 
mond, Yirginia. Although successful in his Richmond ministry, 
he soon discovered that the old Virginia of thirty years ago was a 
field too limited for his professional aspirations and order of mind. 
On a journey to the North, in September, 1839, he was invited to 
preach in the Universalist church in Charlestown, Massachusetts, 
whose pulpit had recently become vacant by the death of the 
lamented Thomas F. King. 

In his first sermon, on "Faith," preached in this pulpit, his con- 
gregation were electrified by a most touching tribute to their beloved 
pastor,' and no time was lost in securing so worthy a successor. 

For six years Mr. Chapin was minister of the churcli in 
Charlestown, and rose daily in reputation, both as a preacher and 
a stirring orator in many of the reforms of the day. His efforts in 
the cause of temperance. Odd-fellowship, and education, were marked 

1 



2 EDWIN HUBBELL CHAPIN. 

and widely iiifluentiul. Indeed, las eloquent yoiee never refnscd to 
obey the eall of humanity. These years were doubtless the most 
fruitful in self-culture of the whole period of his ministry. Amoni^ 
his parishioners and constant bearers were the eminent historian 
and journalist, Ricliard Frothingham, Pi'ofessor Tweed, perhaps the 
most careful literary critic of jS^ew England, and Thomas Starr 
King, just then contemplating an entrance into the ministry. It 
was a liberal education to preach for six years to such a congrc 
gation, and never were pastor and people more liappily adjusted to 
each other. The writer of this sketch remembers the first discourse 
of Mr. Chapin to which lie listened, in company with Starr King, 
as one of those eventful evenings which tell so powerfully on tlie 
future career of a minister of Christ. At this time it was his privi- 
lege frequently to listen to sermons and addresses from the same 
source, which have never been surpassed in the most brilliant days 
of the doctor's metropolitan ministr}'. 

From this enviable position Mr. Chapin removed to the School 
Street Church, in Boston, in 1846, becoming associate pastor with 
Hosea Ballon, and in 1848 made his final removal to New York, 
where he has been known as pastor of the Fourth IJniversalist 
Church for the last twenty years. He began his New York minis- 
try in the church in Murray Street, which soon overflowed. The 
society then purchased a beautiful church on Broadway, originally 
occupied by Dr. Bellows. In this large and central audience-room 
for many years Mr. Chapin gathered a Sunday congregation 
largely representative of the best elements of pi'ogressive -Northern 
life. We have heard the most eminent of American statesmen 
declare that their visits to New York were often timed to include 
a Sunday of Dr. Chapin's preaching. Here, at the American 
center of theological and popular influence. Dr. Chapin entered 
largely into the profession of lecturer, and soon became as eminent 
in the lecture-room as he had already become in the pulpit and on 
the platform. 

In the midst of this exhausting life of public speaking, his liter 

2 



EDWIN HUBBELL CHAPIN. 3 

arj pursuits were never forgotten. His library of English litera- 
ture is probably one of the most valuable private collections in 
America, and no man better knows where to find or more keenly 
to appreciate the treasures of our language. In 1856 he received 
from Harvard University the degree of D. D., although he never 
had enjoj'ed the opportunity of a collegiate education. 

Under this accumulated weight of professional duty, the health 
of Dr. Chapin a few years since became seriously impaired, A 
timely journey to Europe, his second foreign tour, restored his 
health, and on his return he wisely determined to concentrate his 
future efforts chiefly upon his ministry. The profession of metro- 
politan preacher and lecturer can not be many years combined in 
safety. Parker, Mann, and King had already fallen under the 
double professional work, and the country has reason to be grateful 
that Chapin, Beecher, and Bellows at nearly the same time heeded 
the prudential warning and withdrew their forces within the ample 
field of a broad Christian ministry. 

Three years ago the Fourth Universalist Society made its final 
removal to the spacious and elegant church on Fifth Avenue, 
where Dr. Chapin now ministers in the fullness of his great 
preaching powers. 

Like every man of commanding genius,- Dr. Chapin struck the 
key-note of his great success in his earlier ministry, and has done 
little but develop his own truly original method of preaching the 
Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

One of his great sermons is the most complete answer to that 
shallow criticism which declares that the day of the preacher has 
passed. We venture to say that during the last quarter of a cen- 
tury a score of American preachers have raised the sermon to a 
higher point of efiectiveness as a means of popular influence than 
it ever before attained ; and in his own peculiar sphere Dr. Chapin 
has no rival in this illustrious company. The grand element of his 
success as a preacher is a large, generous, and inspiring manhood 
which envelops and interfuses his entire discourse, and compels the 

3 



4 EDWIN HUBBELL CHAPIN. 

most indifferent hearer to acknowledge, that a true-hearted and 
large-minded man is talking to him, in dead earnest, on the greatest 
themes of life. It is this manhood, in which the child-like spirit is 
so wonderfully blended with strength and volume, that tunes the 
wonderful voice and informs the earnest features, and lifts both 
speaker and hearer to the loftiest heights of religious exaltation. 
The intellect of Dr. Chapin is not logical, and to an over-critical 
mind would be regarded too neglectful of details, but it has the 
decisive test of genius in looking every subject into grand propor- 
tions. The first statement of his theme is always so comprehensive 
and suggestive, that the hearer might then go away feeling that he 
had never before conceived the vast relations of the most ordinary 
fact of the Christian life. 

But perhaps the crowning splendor of his genius is that power of 
imagination, without which no man can become a great Christian 
preacher, and in this exalted faculty he stands pre-eminent among 
American divines. By this power he penetrates the secret places 
of human nature, reads the motives, feels the temptations, and knows 
the spiritual conflicts of his fellow-men. When blended with his 
power of pathos, it is impossible to withstand the effect of its tender 
and touching appeals. When it rises to its loftiest range of obser- 
vation over human experiencCj social and national affairs, and the 
great common interest of humanity, its effect is truly indescribable. 
Dr. Chapin is not the favorite minister of that cool, deliberate class 
who believe in salvation according to Whately and Blair. One 
thrilling passage upsets their coolness, melts their logical theories, 
and throws them into the distressing posture of bowing like a bul- 
rush before a tempest of the Word of God. But he will always be the 
favorite preacher of the great class of Americans in whom the 
human, religious, and executive faculties are pre-eminent — the class 
which controls American affairs. Dr. Chapin, like his lamented 
friend, Thomas Starr King, has alwnys borne himself amid theo- 
logical disputes of the day in a manner most creditable to his char- 
acter of Christian consecration, and saving common sense; no man 

4 



EDWIN HUBBELL CHAPIN. 5 

is more familiar with tliat whole field of critical radical speculation 
in which so many of the lesser lights of theology, science, and litera- 
ture have gone out through skepticism to the blankness of atheistic 
negation. His brilliant imagination and tender affections have 
never been seduced into the advocacy of any tendency to an ultra- 
ritualism and conservatism. His entire manhood instinctively 
gravitates to the person of Jesus Christ, and his whole ministry is 
an eloquent commentary on Christ's hiw of love. Karely indulging 
in technical, theological discussions, averse to every form of dispu- 
tation or controvers}', not distinguished as an executive manager in 
ecclesiastical affairs, his preaching is theological, reasonable, prac- 
tical in the highest sense, always setting before men those few 
central ideas and principles of the Ciiristian life from which all 
just, holy, sweet, and successful living must naturally descend. 
Thus, while always maintaining his denominational relations, there 
is no American preacher to whom Christian people of every sect 
more gladly listen, who is more powerful to reach and move the 
great masses of his countrymen who are outside of any division of 
the Christian Church. 

5 




< "i-^ C-'-^c-'C^-^^it^ 




I'Jigi-OTed. J)7 Mlaa a. Co. 53 Rjllon :t.}i.: 



WILLIAM OULLEI^ BRYANT. 

With the exception of some modifications and additions, we acknowledge our in- 
debtedness to the EclecUc Magazine, Rev. W. H. Bidwell, editor, for this slietcli. 

R. BRYANT is now the Yeterun, j)ar exceUe7ice, of American 
_ b? letters — one of the honored few who, in the early years of 
V^^i4 ^1^^ century, rocked the cradle of our literature, and have 
lived to see it attain its present stalwart and manly, if somewhat 
rugged, growth. But this is not all. For Mr. Bryant has the rare 
distinction not only of having assisted at the birth of a new litera- 
ture, but of having, as poet, critic, orator, and journalist, contributed 
to the development of every department in which American thought 
has since illustrated itself, except those of philosophy and juris- 
prudence. Unlike most of those who entered the field with him, 
he has kept up with the age— borne onward upon its current, not 
stranded upon "some green and grassy shore," which, however 
pleasant when the century was young, is now far in the wake of 
our intellectual progress. It is peculiar to Mr. Bryant, amo:i;^ 
those early pioneers of our letters, that his genius sought no models, 
ran into no ruts, and ignored the evanescent themes of political 
and social life. From the first, he drew his inspiration from Nature, 
and the profounder moral problems which challenge the thoughts 
of humanity ; and as long as man shall seek solace from the bosom 
of " our common mother," the poems of Bryant will remain a 
guide and a consolation. Most of the writings of those who were 
the contemporaries of his youth have passed into the "storehouse 
• of oblivion," which Time has prepared for so much of literary 
endeavor : but with the growth and elevation of our intellectual 

culture, Bryant has but obtained a larger, more secure, and more 

7 



Q WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 

spealcs, in all its pleasing appointments and picturesque surround- 
ings, the cultivated tastes of its wortlij master. It is liere that 
lie is delighted to retreat and give himself up to that loving com- 
munion with Nature which has kept his spirit fresh through all the 
turmoil of politics and journalism ; it is here, under trees of his 
own planting, and surrounded by rural prospects of which he 
knows every forest hem, every break in the line of the horizon, 
every bush and flower by the wayside, — and their habits, periods, 
and varieties as well, — that he finds the quiet he loves so much, 
and girds himself for his powerful intellectual efforts. 

Mr. Bryant was born at Cummington, Massachusetts, on the 3d 
of November, 1794, and is now in his seventy-seventh year. The 
portrait herewith shows the venerable poet as he looks now,' with 
"all his honors," and the snows of nearly fourscore winters 

" thick upon him." 

12 




GOY. JOHN T. HOFFMAN". 

The following sketch we extract from "Life Sketches," published by S. C. Hutchins & 

H. H. Boone, Albany. 

[OHN T. HOFFMAN, twenty-tliird Governor of the State 
of New York, was born at the village of Sing Sing on 
the 10th day of January, 1828. His grandfather, Philip 
Livingston Hoffman, was a, resident of Columbia County, where 
he was educated to the law. He married Helena Kissam, a lady 
whose family was well known throughout the State. 

Adrian Kissam Hoffman, the father of the subject of this sketch, 
was born in Columbia County. Tlie family subsequently moved to 
Montgomery County, where he studied medicine. After completing 
his studies, Dr. Hoff'man married the daughter of Dr. John Thomj)- 
son of Saratoga County, and removed to Westchester County, where 
he entered upon the practice of his profession. He is still living 
and is widely known and universally respected, both for his skill as 
a physician and for his character as a man. 

John Thompson llofthian, as a boy, displayed the germs of those 
qualities which, ripening in the growth of later years, have ren- 
dered his name famous. 

The Eev. Dr. Prime, editor of the New York Oherver, who was 
the Governor's first teacher, spoke, a few years ago, in the follow- 
ing terms of his former pupil : — 

" While yet a student he won some reputation as a public speaker. But his calm 
self-possession, independence of association, and deliberate judgment, with great firm- 
ness of adherence to conclusions readied after careful examination, were qualittes so 
rarely developed in a young man that he early attracted attention as one in whom high 

trusts could be safely confided I take no credit to myself 

for his career. The man at the head of the school, my father, had exalted ideas of 
justice, and inculcated in his daily instructions those notions of stern integrity, tlie in- 
tlexibiliiy of principle, the abstract duty of doing right irrespective of expediency, that 
go to make up the character of every really great man." 

13 



2 JOHN T. HOFFMAN. 

With such instruction at school, and with Christian precepts and 
worthy examples to guide his footsteps at home, young Hoffman's 
early boyhood was passed. 

At the ase of fifteen he entered the Junior class of Union 
College. Tliis was in 1843, at a time when Dr. Nott was in the 
full enjoyment of his well-deserved fame. The practical lessons of 
that sound old philosopher produced a lasting impression on the 
mind of the youthful collegian, who, in despite of uncertain health, 
which compelled him to suspend his college course for one year, 
made rapid progress in his studies. He was graduated with the 
honors of the institution in 1846. His oration on that occasion 
rose so much above the ordinary level of such efforts as to be note- 
worthy. He chose for his theme " Sectional Prejudices," and in 
the treatment of the subject he displayed a breadth of reasoning 
power and a knowledge of political science quite remarkable. 

With the ardor of boyhood he espoused then the cause of 

Democrac}'', and to its principles he has remained steadfast always. 

After leaving college, Mr. Hoffman commenced the study of law 

in the office of General Aaron Ward and Judge Albert Lockwood 

at Sing Sing. 

Mr. Hoffman's political career began before he had attained his 
nuijority. In the year 1848, at the age of twenty, he was made a 
member of the State Central Committee by the Convention of 
Hunker or Hard-Shell Democracy. That year will long be remem- 
bered in the political history of the State. Martin Van Buren's 
candidacy for the office of President divided the Democracy of 
New York, causing strong and bitter feeling between his supporters 
and those of the regular nominee, Lewis Cass, and resulting in the 
overwhelming triumph of the Whig party. Taylor carried the 
State by a plurality of about 100,000, and Hamilton Fish was 
elected Governor — this, in face of the fact that the aggregate 
Democratic vote exceeded that of the Whigs. Pending the can- 
vass, the State Committee, of which Mr. Hoffman was a member, 
put forth "An Address to the people," in which the claims of their 

14 



•I 



JOHN T. HOFFMAN. 3 

principles and of their candidates were advocated with marked 
ability. Although not then a voter, Mr. Iloffnian took the stnmp 
for Cass and Walworth and did cftective service as a speaker. 

On the 10th of January, 1849, — his twenty -first birth-day, — Mr. 
Hoffman was admitted to the bar. 

In October of that year he removed to Xew York, wdiere, soon 
after, he formed a law partnership with the lo.te Samuel M. Wood- 
ruff and Judge William H. Leonard, the firm name being Wood- 
ruff, Leonard & Hoffman. 

For ten years Mr. Hoffman devoted himself to the practice of his 
profession, and so marked was his success that in 1859 he was 
urged by some of the most prominent citizens of New York for the 
position of United States District Attorney. But President 
Buchanan objected to him on account of his youth, and Judge 
Boosevelt was appointed to the place. 

In the year 1860 Mr. Hoffman was nominated for Recorder of 
the city of New York, and after a spirited canvass, was elected to 
that position. In this instance the office sought the man ! Mr. 
Hoffman had declined to have his name presented as a candidate, 
but he Avas, nevertheless, nominated b}' the Tammany Convention, 
on the second formal ballot. At the election which followed, he 
was the only candidate on the Tammany ticket who, without the 
support of other organizations, was chosen by the ])eople. He en- 
tered upon his duties as Recorder on the 1st of January, 1861. 
JSTone so young as he had ever before filled the place, but none 
made a deeper and more favorable impression on the public mind. 

Ilis strict ideas of justice, tempered by the influcTice of a mer- 
ciful heart ; his ample legal acquirements, laid on the foundation 
of rare good sense ; his unhalting firmness in the discharge of dutj'- 
and his unquestioned integrity, combined to render him a good 
and upright judge. So firm a hold did he gain on the popular 
heart during his first term as Recorder, in the course of which he 
tried and sentenced many of those engaged in the famous riots of 
July, 1863, that the Republican Judiciary Convention named him, 

15 



4, JOHN T. HOFFMAN. 

on tlie 12tli of October, 1863, for re-election. Taninianj and 
Mozart also united on him; the newspaper press, regardless of 
party affiliations, indorsed him, and the people rallied enthusiasti- 
cally to his support and forgot party prejudice in their admiration 
for an honest man. Under such flattering circumstances, he was 
again chosen Recorder by an almost unanimous vote of the electors. 

On the 21st of November, 1865, John T. Hoffman was nomi- 
nated for the office of Mayor of the city of New York by the 
Tammany Hall Democratic Convention. An effort to unite the 
then liostile factions of Tammany and Mozart had proved unsuc- 
cessful. Fernando Wood was nominated by the last-named organi- 
zation, but declined in favor of John Hecker, the candidate of the 
Citizens' Association, who was warmly advocated by the New York 
Tribune. C. Godfrey Guntlier, the then incumbent, had pre- 
viously announced himself as a candidate for re-election, and his 
claims were indorsed by what was known as the McKeon Democ- 
racy. The Republicans saw in the divisiDU of the Democratic vote 
a chance for their own success. They nominated Marshall O. 
Roberts, and under his leadership they inaugurated a most vigoi-- 
ous campaign. At the election which followed 81,702 votes were 
cast, of which Judge Hoffman received 32,820; Mr. Roberts, 31,- 
657 : Mr. Hecker, 10,390, and Mayor Gunther, 6,758. 

On the 1st of January, 1866, Mr. Hoffman entered upon his 
duties as Mayor. His administration of this office, joined with his 
previous reputation as Recorder, rendered his name familiar 
throughout the State, and during the summer he was frequently 
mentioned as the probable candidate of the Democracy for 
Governor. 

The convention which assembled at Albanj^ on the 11th of Sep- 
tember was found to be composed of elements which had never 
before mingled in State politics. Old-Line Democrats joined hands 
with Conservative Republicans in an effort to unite all the varied 
forces which opposed the Radical course of Congress. One-third 
of the delegates had acted up to that time with the Republican 

16 



JOHN T. HOFFMAN. 5 

party. These were they who favored Andrew Johnson's policy 
and indorsed the Philadelphia Convention. They scarcely had 
faith, however, in the President's ability to carry his ideas to a 
successful issue. They were inclined to sing with Tennyson — 

" "lis true we have a faithful ally, 
But only the Devil knows what he means." 

The Democrats had just lost their jjreat organizing leader. Dean 
Richmond, and these accessi'>ns to their ranks, at such a juncture, 
did not promise to promote harmony. But tlie convention at 
Albany was a very larg-e one, and it soon became apparent that, if 
a proper nomination were made for Governor, a vigorous campaign 
could be prosecuted with a reasonable hope of success. Under 
these circumstances, an unusual number of distinguished names 
were canvassed by the delegates. Sanford E. Church, Henry C. 
Murphy, William F. Allen, John T. Hoffman, Henry W. Slocum, 
John A. Dix, William Kelly, and others, were mentioned as avail- 
able candidates. After a fair interchange of opinion it was found 
that a majority of the convention favored the choice of Mayor 
Hoffman, and on the second day he was nominated by acclama- 
tion, amidst the wildest enthusiasm. The convention then ad- 
journed until afternoon, and on reassembling it was addressed by 
the candidate himself, who had been telegraphed for. His manly 
8]3eech on that occasion made a lasting impression on the minds of 
the delegates, many of whom saw him then for the first time. 

After his nomination, Mayor Hoffman canvassed the State, 
speaking at Elmira, Syracuse, Pochester, Buffalo, Binghamton, 
Brooklyn, JSTew York, and other places. His earnest and con- 
vincing arguments were well received by the masses of the people 
everywhere. But frequent defeat had engendered amongst the 
Democrats a want of confidence in their ability to succeed, and 
the ill-timed tour of Johnson and Grant united the columns of the 
opposition, while it injured rather than benefited the party whoso 
interests the President sought to subserve. But, notwithstanding 
2 IT 



G JOHN T. HOFFMAN. 

these disheartening circumstances, the election returns showed a 
decided gain in the Democratic vote over the preceding year. 
After the election, the Democrats awoke to the knowledge of the 
fact that, had thej made more eflbrt, they might have overcome 
the small majority by which Governor Fenton was re-elected. The 
lesson came late, but it was not altogether lost, as the next year's 
contest showed. 

In the fall of 186Y, Mayor Hoffman was chosen temporary 
Chairman of the Democratic State Convention, and delivered a 
speech on that occasion in which he enumerated with admirable 
succinctness the governing principles of the party, and defined its 
attitude in relation to current questions with remarkable clearness. 

The ticket nominated by this Convention, headed by the Hon, 
Homer A. Nelson for Secretary of State, was successful at the en- 
suing election, its candidates being chosen by an average majority 
of over 47,000. 

Mr. Hoffman's first term as Mayor was then drawing to a close. 
The popularity which he had gained in the discharge of his duties 
made his renomination a foregone conclusion. The Tammany 
Convention met on the Saturday evening succeeding the State 
election. A great concourse of people gathered around the hall 
and when it was announced that Hoffman had been nominated 
without a dissenting voice, the air rang with the cheers of the sat- 
isfied populace. In this canvass, Mayor Hoffman had two com- 
petitors, Fernando Wood, Mozart Democrat, and William A. 
Darling, Eepublican. The result of the election was significant. 
Hoffman carried every ward in the city. His vote w\as the largest 
ever given to any candidate in New York. His majority over both 
his competitors was nearly equal to the total vote of either. With 
this unmistakable indorsement he entered upon his second term as 
Mayor, on the first ot January, 1S68. 

His third annual message as Mayor contained a reiteration of his 
views on the question of city government ; which views were sim- 
ply the old theory of Jefferson, tha,t in local affairs the local 

18 



JOHN T. HOFFMAN. 7 

authorities should rule. Simple and sensible as this doctrine ap- 
pears, its enunciation gained the Mayor some vigorous abuse from 
his political opponents. 

But in despite of this, his popularity had grown so great that, 
when the National Democratic Convention met at New York in 
July, Mayor Hoffman's name was suggested by many of the 
Western delegates in connection with the Vice-Presidency. But he 
neither sought nor desired this honor, and the nomination of Gov- 
ernor Seymour for President placed it out of the power of the 
Convention to urge it upon him. 

On the 13th of August, 1868, the State Committee, together with 
many prominent Democrats, met in Utica, for consultation. This 
meeting developed the fact that Mayor Hoffman would again be the 
Democratic candidate for Governor. The canvass of 1866 had 
brought him in contact with the people who, everywhere, felt that 
he had earned this honor, by the earnest and effective service he 
performed in that disastrous year. 

"When the convention met in September the name of Senator 
Murphy, who was Mayor Hoffman's chief competitor, was with- 
drawn and John T. Hoffman was, for a second time, nominated by 
acclamation, for Governor of the State of New York. 

The Republicans had previously placed in nomination John A. 
Griswold, of Rensselaer. He was heralded as the builder of the 
first "Monitor," and this service, togetlier with his record in 
Congress, was dwelt upon until considerable enthusiasm was 
aroused among the people in his behalf. 

Both the candidates were young men, and the personal qualifi- 
cations of each were admitted by all ; but the canvass was one of 
peculiar bitterness. Victory seemed within the grasp of either 
party, and the pendency of the Presidential campaign roused par- 
tisans to extraordinary efforts and lent additional interest to the 
gubernatorial contest. 

Mayor Hoffman canvassed the State in person and addressed the 
electors at many of the principal towns. His presence inspired 

19 



S JOHN T. HOFFMAN. 

confidence among bis supporters, and his speeches, although they 
evoked sharp criticism from Republican sources, cemented the 
elements of bis strength. 

At the election which occurred on the 2d of N'ovember, 1868, 
he was chosen Governor by a majority of 27,946. But opposition 
to Governor Hoffman did not cease with the closing of the polls. 
The cry of " fraud " was set up and persisted in by those whose 
candidates had met defeat. This cry is no new catch-word for 
politicians of either party ; but the vigor with which it was pressed 
in this particular instance made it somewhat effective in producing 
a feeling of popular prejudice against Governor Hoffman. 

How quickly this feeling was dissipated, after the Governor had 
taken his seat, is a matter of common knowledge. His bitterest 
enemies became his eulogists ; Republican newspapers commended 
his course, and an opposition Legislature indorsed, almost without 
a dissenting voice, every veto message which he submitted, to their 
consideration. These vetoes were numerous and were aimed chiefly 
at the evil system of special legislation which cumbers our statute- 
books with iimumerable unnecessary laws that seldom prove bene- 
ficial except to individuals whose personal schemes are accomplished 
at the cost of the tax-payers. 

In personal appearance Governor Hofi'man is above the medium 
height and has a strong well-knit frame. His weight is, perhaps, 
a hundred and seventy j)ounds. His hair is dark and abundant ; 
his forehead is broad and particularly developed in what phrenolo- 
gists call the perceptive faculties ; his eyes are of a deep brown 
color; his nose is large; his chin prominent, and his mouth shapely 
and indicative of firmness. He wears a full mustache but no 
beard. As a speaker he is plain, clear, and straightforward in 
manner as well as in matter. His voice is full, round and sonorous, 
l>ut he practices few of the tricks of the orator and seldom embel- 
lishes his speeches with rhetorical flourishes. As a writer he is 
argumentative rather than imaginative, and his style is too analyt- 
ical to be florid. He possesses, however, a certain happy power of 

20 



JOHN T. HOFFMAN 9 

poetical description, which he displayed to good advaatage in the 
Agricultural Address delivered by him before the Ulster County 
Fair, last September. 

* In his intercourse with liis fellow-men Governor Hoffman is frank 
and genial ; he has nothing of the demagogue's overbearing pom- 
posity, and he is free from the sycophant's affectation of cordiality. 
He makes no promises which he does not keep ; he holds out no 
false hopes to applicants for his favor ; he is loyal to truth, and he 
cherishes his personal integrity as something more valuable than 
any political power. 

Note. — Since the sketch of Governor Hoffman was written, he lias been re-elected 
Governor of New York by 33,066 majority. His public career has been one of signal 
triumph ; commencing at the bottom round of the political ladder, he has ascended step 
by step to the gubernatorial chair of the Empire State, and is now the prominent leader, 
and, to all appearances, the coming man of the Democracy in the next Presidential 
contest 

21 





^ 



!!^-^?^^£:^^^ -^^feg^r^^ic^ 



DAYID DUDLEY FIELD. 




AVID DUDLEY FIELD was born, February 13, 1805, at 
Haddam, Connecticnt, where his father, the Eev. David 
D. Field, was the Congregational minister. Instructed 
first in the common school of the district, he was at ten years of 
age transferred to his father's study, and there taught Latin, Greek, 
and Alo-ebra. When he was fourteen his father removed to Stock- 
bridge, Massachusetts, to become pastor of the church there. 
Here the son pursued his studies under the care of the Rev. Jared 
Curtis, then preceptor of the Stockbridge Academy, except that for 
one summer lie attended Mr. Gleason's Academy at Lenox. In the 
fall of 1821, he entered Williams College. On leaving college he 
began the study of law in the ofiice of Harmanus Bleecker, at 
Albany, and, after a few months witli him, went to the city of New 
York, where he continued his studies in the office of Henry and 
Robert Sedgwick. He was admitted first as attorney and solicitor, 
in February, 1828, and a year or two after as counselor at law. 
Henry Sedgwick, in the mean time, having died, Mr. Field, on his 
admission as attorney, became the partner of Robert Sedgwick, 
and continued so until 1835. In May, 1836, he went to Europe, 
and for upward of a year traveled in various countries, returning 
to New York in July, 1837. 

From that time to the present, he has been constantly at work 
as an advocate, writer, and citizen. His practice ascounsel in the 
different courts has been very large. Among the celebrated cases 
in which he has been engaged, are those which grew out of the 
controverciy respecting a railway on Broadway from 1852 to 1863; 
the Metropolitan Police controversy from 1857 to 1863; the Street 

23 



2 DAVID DUDLEY FIELD. 

Comviiissioner controversy from 1857 to 185S ; the Milligan case in 
1867, respecting the constitutionality of military commissions for 
tlie trial of civilians; the Cummings case, respecting the constitu- 
tionality of test oatlis; the McArdle case in 1868,' respecting the 
constitutionality of the Reconstruction acts; the Erie Railway 
cases from 1868 to 1870; and the Albany and Susquehanna case 
from 1869 to 1870. 

His career as a law-reformer began in 1839, by the publication of 
" A Letter to Gulian C. Verplanck, on the Reform of the Judicial 
System of New York." The following imperfect list of his pub- 
lished writings and speeches will show the variety and extent of 
his labors. Beginning with the letter to Mr. Yerplanck, in 1839, 
we have, in 1839 and 1840, "Sketches over the Sea," Nos. 1, 2, 3, 
4, and 5, published in the DemocratiG Review. In 1851, he pub- 
lished an article in the New Yorlc Review on the writings of AVil- 
liara Leggett. In 1842., he wrote a letter to John L. O'Sullivan, 
member of Assembly, on Law Reform, accompanied by drafts of 
bills, which were printed by the Legislature. In 1852-3-4-5, he 
wrote articles for the Deonooratic Review^ on " The Rhode Island 
Question," "American Names," "Cost Johnson's Forlorn Hope," 
" Duer on Insurance," " Study and Practice of the Law," " Law 
of Progress of the Race," "Journey of a Day," "The Oregon 
Question," "British Re^news on Oregon," and two poems, " King 
of Men," and " Greylock," In 1846 he published a pamphlet on 
the " Reorganization of the Judiciary ; " in 1847, one upon the 
question " What shall be done with the Practice of the Courts," 
and " Some Suggestions respecting the Rules to be estab- 
lished by the Supreme Court." From 1847 to 1865 he was en- 
gaged in the work of codification for the State of New York, the 
result of which is contained in nine volumes, the 1st, being the 
" Code of Civil Procedure;" the 2d, the "Code of Criminal Pro- 
cedure ; " the 3d, the " Political Code ; " the 4th, the " Penal Code ; " 
the 5th, the " Civil Code ; " the 6th, the " Book of Forms ; " the 7th, 

8th, and 9th, containing the successive drafts of these codes, and 

24* 



DAVID DUDLEY FIELD, 3 

ten different reports. These were accompanied by six auxiliary 
tracts: JN'o. 1, on " The Administration of the Code ; " No. 2, " Evi- 
dence on the Operation of the Code ; " No. 3, " Codification of the 
Common Law ; " No. 4, " Competency of Parties as Witnesses for 
Themselves ; " No. 5, A Short Manual of Pleading under the Code," 
and No. 6, "The Completion of the Code." 

His public addresses began with an address at Tammany Hall, 
in 1842, on the nomination of Robert H. Morris for mayor. Next 
came a speech at the Broadway Tabernacle, in 1844, on the An- 
nexation of Texas. This was followed by the famous " Secret 
Circular," and the ''Joint Letter," which it preceded. Li 1847, 
he attended the River and Harbor Convention at Chicago, and 
made a speech in favor of a strict construction of the Constitution 
in that respect. The same year he was chosen delegate to the 
Syracuse Convention, where the Democratic party was split into 
two over the question of slavery extension, and on that occasion he 
introduced the famous resolution, long afterward known as the 
" Corner-Stone," which was for years displayed at the head of the 
leading columns of the Albany Atlas, as the last and rallying cry 
of the Free Democracy. 

It was in these words : — 

" Resolved, That while the Democracy of Now York, represented in this convention, 
will faithfully adhere to all the compromises of the Constitution, and maintain all the 
reserved rights of the States, they declare, since tlie crisis has arrived wiien tliat ques- 
tion must be met, their uncompromising hostility to the extension of slavery into terri- 
tory now free, or which may be hereafter acquired' by any action of the government 
of the United States," 

About the same time he made a speech at the demonstration in 
New York for Italy and the reforms of Pius the Ninth. In 1848, 
he wrote the address for the mass meeting of New York Democrats 
to hear the report of the delegates to Baltimore, and afterward 
acted in support of Mr. Yan Buren's nomination to the Presidency. 
He spoke at the Park meeting, New York, and at meetings in 
Stockbridge and Springfield, Massachusetts, in Faneuil Hall, 
Boston, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Bangor, Maine, and 
3 25 



4 DAVID DUDLEY FIELD. 

he wrote the address of the Democratic-Republican Committee to 
the electors of the State. In 1852, he made an argument before a 
committee of the New York Common Council, on the proposed 
Broadway Railway, and in the winter of 1853, before a committee 
of the Legislature. Then followed in 1851, a speech at the Broad- 
way Tabernacle, in favor of religious liberty for Americans abroad ; 
in 1855, a speech as chairman of a dinner to J. Hosford Smith, 
United States Consul at Beyrout; in 1856, speeches in support of 
Fremont, at Philadelphia, at Poughkeepsie, at Troy, and at Stuy- 
vesant Institute, New York ; an address at the Albany Law School 
on Law Reform ; the address and resolutions of a mass meeting at 
Syracuse ; and the address of the State Committee. 

We can only give the subjects and times of the subsequent 
speeches and addresses : In 1857, at the meeting in Bleecker- 
Buildings, New York, to ratify the Republican State nominations ; 
in the New York Common Pleas, upon a trial against the CJiurch- 
man for libel ; in the New York Supreme Court, upon the constitu- 
tionality of the new Police Act ; and the address of the State 
convention. — In 1858, at the demonstration in New York, for the 
Atlantic Telegraph; and the address of the Democratic State con- 
vention. — In 1859, on the opening of the Law School at Chicago; 
before the joint committee of the two houses of the Legislature on 
the Parallel Railway; at the mass meeting in Wall Street in favor 
of Mr. Ilavermeyer's election to the mayoralty; and on the death 
of Theodore Sedgwick. — In 1860, at Philadelphia, on the danger 
of throwing the election of President into Congress ; at the Repub- 
lican festival in the Eighteenth Ward of New York, February 22d ; 
and at the New England dinner. — In 1861, at the Peace Conference 
in Washington ; at Union Square, New York, on the ujirising of 
the people; at the meeting of ladies in the Cooper Institute; at 
the Opdyke ratification meeting; and the address to the Twentieth 
Massachusetts Regiment passing through New York. — In 1862, 
address of the loyal citizens of New York, at the Union Square 
meeting; and speeches at the ratification meeting in the Eighteenth 

26 



DAVID DUDLEY FIELD. 5 

Ward, and at Owego, Elmira, Geneva, Norwich, Oswego, and 
Greene, in support of General Wadsworth's nomination as gover- 
nor. — In 18G3, at the mass meeting in the Cooper Institute; at the 
complimentary dinner to Governor Morton, of Indiana ; at the 
meeting on the anniversary of the fall of Sumter ; at the mass 
meeting in Madison Square ; at Wilmington, Delaware ; and at the 
banquet to the officers of the Russian fleet. — In 1864, at the dinner 
to Mr. Romero, Mexican minister; at the meeting of the mer- 
chants and bankers held at the Exchange before the election ; at the 
celebration in Cooper Institute of Mr. Lincoln's re-election ; at the 
banquet in the Metropolitan Hotel for the same purpose ; and 
upon the occasion of the death of William Curtis Noyes. — In 1865, 
in the Weed libel suit ; on the conclusion of the war ; and on the 
death of Mr. Lincoln. — In 1866, at the meeting in support of 
President Jolmson's veto message; on the constitutionality of mili- 
tary commissions, in the Milligan case ; on the constitutionality of 
test oaths, in the Cummings case; and in the autumn of the same 
year an address before the British Social Science Association at 
Manchester, England, on an " International Code ; " and an address 
before the Law Amendment Society, London, on the " New York 
Code." 

In 1867, he published " Suggestions respecting the Revision of 
the Constitution of New York ; " and again attended the meetings 
of the Social Science Association, at Belfast, Ireland, and made an 
address on the " Community of Nations." — In January, 1868, 
he presided at the Free-trade banquet in honor of Mr. William 
Cullen Bryant upon his return from abroad, and made the 
address of welcome. The same month he made an argument in 
the Supreme Court of the United States, on the constitutionality 
of the Reconstruction acts, in the McArdle case. In May follow- 
ing, he spoke at the banquet given to the Chinese Embassy, at the 
head of which was Mr. Burlingame ; on the 28th of July, he de- 
livered the address at the unveiling of the monument erected at 
Williams College to the graduates and undergraduates who fell 

27 



4: DAVID DUDLEY FIELD. 

he wrote the address of the Democratic-Republican Committee to 
the electors of the State. In 1852, he made an argument before a 
committee of the New York Common Council, on the proposed 
Broadway Railway, and in the winter of 1853, before a committee 
of the Legislature. Then followed in 1854, a speech at the Broad- 
way Tabernacle, in favor of religious liberty for Americans abroad ; 
in 1855, a speech as chairman of a dinner to J. Hosford Smith, 
United States Consul at Beyrout; in 1856, speeches in support of 
Fremont, at Philadelphia, at Poughkeepsie, at Troy, and at Stuy- 
vesant Institute, New York ; an address at the Albany Law School 
on Law Reform ; the address and resolutions of a mass meeting at 
Syracuse ; and the address of the State Committee. 

"We can only give the subjects and times of the subsequent 
speeches and addresses : In 1857, at the meeting in Bleecker- 
Buildings, New York, to ratify the Republican State nominations ; 
in the New York Common Pleas, upon a trial against the Church- 
man for libel ; in the New York Supreme Court, upon the constitu- 
tionality of the new Police Act ; and the address of the State 
convention. — In 1858, at the demonstration in New York, for the 
Atlantic Telegraph; and the address of the Democratic State con- 
vention. — In 1859, on the opening of the Law School at Chicago; 
before the joint committee of the two houses of the Legislature on 
the Parallel Railway ; at the mass meeting in Wall Street in favor 
of Mr. Ilavermeyer's election to the mayoralty; and on the deatli 
of Theodore Sedgwick. — In 1860, at Philadelphia, on the danger 
of throwing the election of President into Congress ; at the Repub- 
lican festival in the Eighteenth Ward of New York, February 22d ; 
and at the New England dinner. — In 1861, at the Peace Conference 
in Washington ; at Union Square, New York, on the uprising of 
the people; at the meeting of ladies in the Cooper Institute; at 
the Opdyke ratification meeting; and the address to the Twentieth 
Massachusetts Regiment passing through New York.— In 1862, 
address of the loyal citizens of New York, at the Union Square 
meeting ; and speeches at the ratification meeting in the Eighteenth 

26 



DAVID DUDLEY FIELD. 5 

Ward, and at Owego, Elmira, Geneva, Norwich, Oswego, and 
Greene, in support of General Wadsworth's nomination as gover- 
nor.— r-In 1863, at the mass meeting in the Cooper Institute ; at the 
complimentary dinner to Governor Morton, of Indiana; at the 
meeting on the anniversary of the fall of Sumter ; at the mass 
meeting in Madison Square ; at Wilmington, Delaware ; and at the 
banquet to the officers of the Russian fleet. — In ISQi, at the dinner 
to Mr. Koraero, Mexican minister; at the meeting of the mer- 
chants and bankers held at the Exchange before the election ; at the 
celebration in Cooper Institute of Mr. Lincoln's re-election ; at the 
banquet in the Metropolitan Hotel for the same purpose ; and 
upon the occasion of the death of William Curtis Noyes. — In 1865, 
in the Weed libel suit ; on the conclusion of the war ; and on the 
death of Mr. Lincoln. — In 1866, at the meeting in support of 
President Joljnson's veto message; on the constitutionality of mili- 
tary commissions, in the Milligan case ; on the constitutionality of 
test oaths, in the Cummings case; and in the autumn of the same 
year an address before the British Social Science Association at 
Manchester, England, on an " International Code ; " and an address 
before the Law Amendment Society, London, on the "New York 
Code." 

In 1867, he published " Suggestions respecting the Revision of 
the Constitution of New York ; " and again attended the meetings 
of the Social Science Association, at Belfast, Ireland, and made an 
address on the "Community of Nations." — In January, 1868, 
he presided at the Free-trade banquet in honor of Mr. William 
Cullen Bryant upon his return from abroad, and made the 
address of welcome. The same month he made an argument in 
the Supreme Court of the United States, on the constitutionality 
of the Reconstruction acts, in the McArdle case. In May follow- 
ing, he spoke at the banquet given to the Chinese Embassy, at the 
head of which was Mr. Burlingame ; on the 28tli of July, he de- 
livered the address at the unveiling of the monument erected at 
Williams College to the graduates and undergraduates who fell 

27 



6 DAVID DUDLEY FIELD. 

in the civil war; and in DeceniLer, spoke at the banquet given to 
Professor Morse. — January 14, 18G9, he made a speech at the ban- 
quet given to Mr. James W. Gerard, on his retirement from the 
bar; on tlie 25th, he presided at the festival in commemoration of 
the hundredth anniversary of Burns' birth ; and later at the annual 
dinner of the alumni of Williams College ; and in October, he de- 
livered an address on an " International Code," before the Ameri- 
can Social Science Association, in j^ew York. — In 18Y0, he again 
presided at the annual dinner of the Williams alumni, and at the 
Burns' festival ; made an address on judicial abuses before the 
State Judiciary Committee , and read a lecture on '"'■ Proportional 
Representation," at the Lowell Institute, Boston. 

During all this time, he has not relaxed his efforts in pro- 
moting social and political progress. He helped to procure the 
nomination of Mr, Van Buren, in 1848, and of Mr. Lincoln in 
1860, and was active iu the Presidential elections of those years, as 
well as in the canvass of 1856 for Fremont. In politics lie has 
always been a Democrat, in the sense in which he understands 
Democracy. His position is defined in a letter which he wrote to 
the Albany Atlas and Argus on the 22d of May, 1856 : — 

"Though I have not hitherto acted with the Eepublican party, my sympathies are 
of course witli the friends of freedom wherever they may be found. I despise equally 
the fraud which uses the name of Democracy to cheat men of their rights ; the cow- 
ardice which retracts this year what it professed and advocated the last ; and the 
falsehood which affects to teach the riglit of the people of the Territories to govern 
themselves, wliile it imposes on them Federal governors and judges and indicts them 
for treason against the Union because they make a constitution and laws which they 
prefer, and collects forces from the neighboring States and the Federal army to compel 
them to submission." 

He has written many articles on current topics for the newspapers ; 
had a public correspondence with Professor Morse and Reverdy 
Johnson on the Peace Conference andthe war ; was an active mem- 
ber of the National War Committee raised in New York ; and, 
during the riots of 1863, did such service as to receive the follow- 
ing commendation from the mayor of New York, Mr. Opdyke, 
in the history of his mayoralty : "To many eminent private citi- 

28 



DAVID DUDLEY FIELD. 7 

zens also m J acknowledgments are due for most valuable services, 
and to none more than to David Dudley Field, Esq., whose cour- 
age, energy, and vigilance were unsurpassed and without abatement 
from the beginning to tlie end of the riots." 

He was last year president of the American Free-Trade League. 
He is now president of the Personal Representation Society of New 
York, and his latest address was the one on " Proportional Rep- 
resentation." He is at present engaged in the preparation of the 
draft of an international code, to which he has devoted much of 
the last four years, and in which he is aiming not only to set forth 
the existing rules of international law, but to suggest such modifi- 
cations as seem to be required by the present state of civilization. 

29 




O. /v^ /V^-v^--*..^^ 



OYEUS HALL MCOOEMICK 




pllKRE are few tasks more difficult than to write the life of 



an inventor. The world is quick to appreciate the exploits 
and herald the fame of the successful soldier. His laurels 
are won upon a field toward which every eye is turned with in- 
tense interest, and upon whose issue the destiny of a nation pal- 
pably hangs. A single masterly movement of his columns kindles 
a thousand bonfires, and makes his name live in the memorial- 
bronze or the stately shaft. Not so, however, with the inventor. 
" Peace hath her victories no less renowned than war ; " but the 
victories of peace are silent, and the victor must often be content 
with the reflection that cheered the immortal Kepler, "my work 
is done; it can well wait a century for its readers, since God 
waited full six thousand years before there came a man capable 
of comprehending and admiring his work." 

Happily, in the case of the man whose name is now before us as 
foremost in the history of agricultural invention and progress 
during the present age, tlie quiet achievement of his early life, and 
the arduous toils of his riper years, have, in his world-wide fame 
as well as his commercial success, already received in a measure 
their merited reward. 

It is related of Cromwell, by the historian Macaulay, that when 
he sat for his last portrait, it was with the stern but noble injunc- 
tion to Sir Peter Lely — " Paint all my scars and my wrinkles or 
I will not pay you a farthing ; " and, in undertaking the present 
memoir, it is with no desire to offer encomium, but simply to in- 
terpret living facts for the benefit of the living. 

It was Yirginia that, in 1780, in response to the appeal of Oon- 

31 



2 CTUUS HALL McCORMICK. 

gress, oj)ened her princely hand and gave away the Northwestern 
Territory to the Union, and it was the same old State that afterward 
gave to the Northwest the Reaper by which its unequaled develop- 
ment has been effected. 

Mr. McCormick was born February 15, 1809, at " Walnut 
Grove " (the family residence), in Rockbridge County, Virginia. 
His father, Robert McCormick, and his mother, whose maiden 
name was Mary Ann Plall, were both of Scotch-Irish descent, and 
natives, the former of Rockbridge, the latter of Augusta County 
The father was a farmer, owning several farms, with saw and grist 
mills, and having shops for blacksmithing, carpentering, machiner}^, 
etc., in which his own mechanical ingenuity and that of young 
Cyrus found scope for exercise and experiment. 

The son did not have the advantages of a collegiate education. 
Ilis studies were limited to the English branches, such as could be 
obtained in the common schools of the country — " the old field 
school,'''' sometimes called — an institution, however, which, if judged 
by its fruits, did a great work in training some of Virginia's most 
elegant writers and forcible orators, as Patrick Henry, Henry Clay, 
and others. 

The old Virginia school did its work upon the subject of this 
notice, not without co-operative agencies. The workshop is, to a 
boy that thinks, an arena in which he is to put into practice all 
that he has learned. The youth who ferrets out the mechanism of 
a locomotive and constructs one for his amusement, if you choose, 
though it be only a plaything to run across his yard, has done 
more for his education than if he had mastered a book in geome- 
try ; and in the end he has more mental muscle and sinew to show 
for it. When Cyrus was fifteen years old he employed his inventive 
gift in the construction of a " cmc?/e," which he used in cutting 
with the harvestmen in the field. 

During his son's youth, the elder McCormick busied himself with 
the invention of several valuable machines, upon some of which he 
obtained letters patent, embracing thrasliing, hydraulic, hemp-break- 

32 



CYRUS HALL McCORMICK. 3 

irig, etc.; and in 1816 he contrived a maeliine for reaping wliich 
would cut the grain when standing up straiglit, but which proved 
wholly unavailable when the grain was in a matted or tangled state. 
His experiment was made on the plan of having a number of ver- 
tical cylinders, 8 or 10 inches in diameter, placed in line at right 
angles to the line of draft of the machine, which cylinders, in their 
revolutions, gathered the standing grain to stationary serrated cut- 
ting hoo/i's, and when the stalks were severed on these hooks the 
grain was carried by leather straps to the side of the machine and 
delivered in sicath. 

" At the commencement of the harvest of 1831 Mr. Robert McCormick made another 
trial of his machine, again without a practical succesp, and when, being satisfied that his 
principle of operation could not succeed, lie laid it aside and abandoned the further 
prosecution of his idea. His son, who had this time been witnessing his father's experi- 
ments with much interest, then perceiving- the difficulties in the way of his father's suc- 
cess — while never liimsolf having seen, or heard of, any other experiments or principles 
tried but his father's in connection with grain reaping by horse-power — devoted himself 
most laboriously to the discovery of a principle of operation upon which to carrj' out 
the great object for which his father had labored both mentally and physically for 
fifteen years. 

" Finding, as his father also had found, that the difficulty of separating the grain to be 
cut between each two of the cylindeis, when in a fallen or tangled state, was insur- 
mountable ; and that, therefore, to succeed, the grain must be cut in a body without such 
separation, except at the line of division between the swath to be cut and tlie grain to be 
left standing (at which point the ascertained difficulty of separating liad to be overcome), 
the question first to be solved was how that was possible. In his reflections and rea- 
soning on this point it occurred to him that to efiect the cutting of tlie grain by a cutting 
instrument, a certain amount of motion was only necessary, which was demonstrated by 
the action on the grain of the cradle then in common use. The next thought was that 
while the motion forward as drawn by horses was not sufficient, a lateral motion 
must at the same time be conmiunicated to the cutting instrument, which, combined with 
the forward motion, would be sufficient to efiect the cutting process as the machine 
advanced upon the grain. How then was this to be effected ? 

'.'Two different methods occurred to the mind of the inventor before he undertook to 
put eitlier to the test of a trial in the field. One was that of a revolving wheel placed 
horizontally (as the wheel of a cart) and drawn forward against the grain, while 
caused to revolve rapidly on its axis, having a cutting edge placed on its periphery. 

"Not satisfied however with tiiis idea — many objections and difficulties in the way of 
its success presenting themselves to tlie mind of Mr. McCormick — his next idea, which 
proved to be the foundation upon which his great invention was finally based, was that 
of communicating by a crank the requisite lateral reciprocating motion tc a straight cutting 
blade, placed at right angles to the line of drauglit of the machine. This first principle he 
immediately put to the test by (himself) constructing in a temporary manner the required 
gear-wheels and frame-work, and applying it to the cutting of grain, when the cutting, 

3 ' 33 



4 CYRUS HALL McCORMICK. 

tlien by a smooth edfre, was well done, but when he immediate]}- discovered the import- 
ance of supportiucT the grain at the edge of tlie blade by guard-fingers, with whicli ho 
united the serrated edge to the cutting blade ; and also the importance of having a device 
forgathering the grain to the cutting apparatus. Tliis done he at once applied himself 
to supplying what seemed now required to make a working machine, and soon origi- 
nated and placed over tlie cutting apparatus the revolving and gathering reel, for gath- 
ering and throwing back the grain, and a frame-work in rear of the cutting blade, 
whicli he called the platform, for receiving the grain as cut by the machine. 

"With these important original principles combined, and with a vigorous effort, he con- 
structed a machine, placing it on one driving-tuheel at the stubble side of the machine, 
which operated the gear-wheels and crank, upon which the main frame of the machine, 
containing the cog-wheels, was placed, and from which the platform was extended to 
the grain side, then supported by a slide, tlie ivheel at the side having been substituted 
the next year. 

" From the main frame of tliis machine, and outside of the standing grain, projected a 
pair o^shiifis within whicli it was drawn by one horse. And on theopi^osite side of the 
platform was constructed the divider for separating the grain to be cut from that to 
be passed by the machine. 

" From this machine the cut grain was drawn from the platform and deposited on tho 
ground ut the side by a man with a rake, walking on the ground." 

"The child is father to the man," and it may have been the im- 
perfections of his father's machine tltat first suggested to the 
younger MeCormick the necessity of a construction upon a 
principle wholly different. 

As early as 1831, Mr. MeCormick, then in the twenty-second 
year of his age, made the invention which has given liis name a 
world-wide reputation, and which is now accomplishing the work 
of considerably more than a million harvesters. In 1831, the 
Reaper triumphed in the harvesting of several acres of oats. The 
following year it cut fifty acres of wheat. 

For several years, wliile experimenting with, exhibiting its oper- 
ation in the field, and Avorking the Eeaper himself, though operat- 
ing well in his liands, he deemed it best — while still undergoing 
important improvements — to postpone its sale. 

In the mean time Mr. MeCormick, with a disposition to do 
business for himself, and thus try his fortune on liis own responsi- 
bility — while his Reaper could not yet be relied upon as a source 
of profit (and he was indeed advised by his father not so to depend 
upon it) — intimated to his father that, if approved by him, any 

34 



CYRUS HALL McCORMICK. 5' 

tiling he miglit be disposed to give liirn in that connection would 
be gratelully acc(-})ted. Whereupon his father gave him a farm, 
and stocked it in a moderate way ready for business, and the son 
farmed it for one year. About that time an opportunity was pre- 
sented to engage in an iron-smelting business, which seemed to 
promise larger profits than farming, and soon Mr. McCormiek 
entered into it. But during the financial revulsion of about 1S37, 
and in connection with some misfortunes iii the working of their 
smelting furnace, his business partner, foreseeing the coming storm, 
covered his private property with deeds of trust in favor of his 
friends ; and when, subsequently, failure overtook the firm, the 
ruin fell mainly upon the inventor. This failure, like similar fail- 
ures, proved, perhaps, a "blessing in disguise." Stripping himself 
of all his capital, Mr. McCormiek met and liquidated all the liabil- 
ities he had incurred. Applying himself then to his work with 
renewed vigor, in 1839 the sale and introduction of the Reaper 
into general use commenced, and its reputation extended rapidly 
into the great centers of agricultural interests and improvement. 

In 1845 he removed to Cincinnati, resolved to devote himself to 
the one tiling of establishing himself in the then emporium of the 
grain-growing West, and in widening the introduction of his 
machines. 

They were first patented in 183-1, but in 1845 he obtained a 
second patent for several valuable improvements in them. In 
1846-7-8 he had also some of his machines manufactured in 
Brockpurt, New York, the makers paying him a "royalty" on all 
they sold, and taking, as security for advances, farmers' orders for 
machines, as procured by Mr. McCormiek. 

In 1847 a third patent was granted him for improvements still 
more valuable; and in 1858 another valuable patent was granted 
to him, and still another to himself and brothers. Foreseeing 
prior to 1847 that Chicago was to become the center of the agri- 
cultural empire of the West, from its commanding position at the 
bead of lake navigation, Mr. McCormiek then made this city his 

35 



6 CTEUS HALL McCORMICK. 

liome and prosecuted his eiiterpiise far and wide in radiating lines. 
In 1848, seven hundred of his machines were made and sold. The 
year 1849 saw the annual sale of the McCormick Reapers and 
Mowers reach the hiwh figure of fifteen hundred. Since tlien the 
]mmber sold has regularly' increased, until now the annual sales 
exceed ten thousand, including what are termed plain reapers, com- 
bined reapers and mowers, and plain mowing machines — employing 
for several years past, in their manufacture, from five to six hundred 
men, with a lai-ge amount of machinery adapted particularly to 
this work. The demand for the invention is perpetually multiplied 
in proportion as its great labor and grain saving merits become the 
subject of inquiry and investigation. 

At the commencement of Mr. McCormiek's manufacturins: busi- 
ness in the JN^orthwest, to eiFect sales he found it necessary to sell 
his machines on time and with a guaranty of their performance, 
which system he has continued to the present time, thus enabling 
purchasers not only to prove the value of the article they purchase, 
but to realize in advance of payment a large proportion of the 
purchase-price of the machine. 

About the year 1850, the two brothers of Mr. McCormidk, 
"William S. and Leander J., both younger than himself, were in- 
troduced into his business at Chicago. In 1859 they were associ- 
ated with him as partners in the manufacturing, and have rendered 
important assistance in the business — the former at the head of the 
ofiice department, and the latter at the head of the manufacturing 
department. 

In the death of his brother William S., in 1865, Mr. McCormick, 
sustained a great loss. He was a man of rare excellence of charac- 
ter and superior business abilities. His loss was irreparable. 

In 1859, the Hon. Reverdy Johnson, in an argument before the 
Commissioner of Patents, from testimony taken mi the case, said, 
that the McCormick Reaper had already " contributed an annual 
income to the whole country of fifty-five millions of dollars at 
least, which must increase through all time." 

36 



CYRUS HALL MoCORMICK. 7 

The quantity of land wliicli can be cultivated, by using these 
machines, is proved to be doubled, and most proof goes higher 
still. Each of these machines has paid its price to the owner; the 
saving of the cost of reaping is at least seventy-five cents an acre, 
in labor alone. It has been jigain and again proved that the saving 
of grain alone, as compared with " cradling," is from one to two 
bushels in an acre cut. These facts have been established in the 
courts by a large number of witnesses, and accepted as evidence. 

From the long time and perseverance necessary to improve and 
perfect this implement, in consequence of the great variety of situ- 
ations in which the crop to be cut is found — green, ripe; wet, dry; 
tall, short ; standing, fallen ; straight, tangled ; and on rough as well 
as smooth ground — and from the short period in each year during 
which experiments could be made (so different from other imjirovc- 
mcnts), it will be observed that the first patent of Mr. McCormick 
(in 1834) expired (in 1848) before he had accomplished much finan- 
cially with his invention (its extension having been refused at the 
Patent Otfice and by Congress), and that the important original 
})rinciples of the invention were thus early thrown open to public 
competition, leaving to him only the protection of liis subsequent 
patents. In this way, at that early day commenced a competition 
in the Reaper and Mower business, with the various modifications 
in construction (made on the same general principles) that the 
world of intellect employed in the business would be likely to work 
out, which lias been kept up to the present time. With the free 
use, also, of the important improvements covered by the expired 
patents of 1845 and 1847 other manufacturers have been and are 
making large numbers of these machines throughout all parts of 
this country and the world: so that, at present, there are annually 
added totlie supply in use more than 100,000 of these machines. 

On the ground of the great value to the jptihlic of McCormick's 
invention, the opposition to the extension of his patents thus de- 
prived him of those advantages of protection against competition 
which have been granted to every other prominent inventor in tlie 

37 



8 CTRUS HALL McCORMICK. 

countrj', and without regard to tlie greater delays in his case in 
perfecting the invention, consequent upon the limited time in the 
liarvest season of each, year for experimenting. 

The continued success of Mr. McCormick, under such circum- 
stances, in the manufacture and sale of his inventio7i during a 
period of thirty years, declining from the beginning to sell patent 
rights to others, improving and patenting in detail from time to 
time as required, and retaining throughout the first position in the 
business, is perhaps without a parallel, and only second in merit 
to the invention itself. 

Tillage was beautifully called by a gre it Roman writer, "the 
nursing breast of the State." 

If this were felt so true in the little narrow peninsula of Italy, 
liow much more forcibly does the figure apply to our vast 
and almost limitless country, on which the sun scarcely sets? 
One has only to glance over the physical geography of the 
United States, to see that the great interests of our people are 
agricultural and mining interests. And, in the development of 
material resources, the sphere of usefulness for Mr. McCormick' s 
invention is beyond measurement. 

An invention such as the Keaper is also of a general utility 
to science. A distinguished meteorologist, speaking of the ba- 
rometer and thermometer, remarked that " each of these inven- 
tions had laid open a new world." As much may be said of the 
Reaper. Ko such mechanism can be given to any branch of 
human industry, without stimulating the energies and quickening 
the ardor of scientific investigation everywhere. Experiment and 
theory are inseparable. Science has many votaries whose adoration 
is unrestrained, and whose ofierings at her shrine are of the costli- 
est nature. But it is by utilizing the simplest elements of science, 
as Mr. McCormick has done, that she is elevated to her true dig- 
nity. This is, in Mr. Ilallam's words, '"to turn that which has 
been a blind veneration into a rational worship." 

But to resume the history of the invention itself: a field 

38 



CTRU3 HALL McCORMICK. 9 

trial of the machine, with that of Obed Hussey, was made near 
Kichraond, Virginia, in cutting wheat, in the harvest of 1843, in 
tlie presence of a hirge number of the most skillful farmers and 
agriculturists of that part of the State, most expert in the husband- 
man's art, A committee, selected by and from tliose assembled on 
this occasion, made a report in favor of the McCormick machine. 

Mr. Ilussey, whose invention was two years later than that of 
Mr. McCormick, was his only competitor in the business until 
about 1849 or 1850, when Manny in the West, and Seymour & 
Morgan in the East, commenced business — after the expiration of 
McCormick's first patent of 1834. 

In 1845 the Gold Medal of the American Institute was awarded 
to Mr. McCormick for his invention. 

At the World's Fair, in London, in 1851, the first international 
institution of the kind convened in history, after two trials in the 
field — -the first on Mechi's celebrated " model farm," and the second 
on that of the Hon. Philip Pusey, M. P. — Mr. McCormick was 
awarded the " Council Medal" of the Exhibition, " for the most 
valua1)le article contributed to it," and its " originality and value " 
— awarded by the Council of Juries, and one of only four such 
medals awarded by the Exhibition to the United States, 

The London Times, which, prior to the trial of the reaper in the 
field, had — in ridicule of it and of the meagreness of the American 
department of the Exhibition — characterized it as " a cross between 
an Astley chariot, a wheelbarrow, and a flying machine," writing 
after the trial, said it was " the most valuable article in the 
Exhibition, and of sufficient value alone to pay the whole expense 
of the Exhibition." 

Mr. Ilussey's machine competed at this Exhibition, himself being 
present. 

In 1855, after a field trial with all other machines, the Grand 
Gold Medal was given to Mr. McCormick, at the Paris Exposition, 
for his Reaper and Mower, as furnishing " the type after which all 
others were made, as well as for the best operating machine in the 

39 



10 CYRUS HALL McCORMICK. 

iield." Tliis was one of three such medals only that were awarded 
in the agricultural department of the Exposition. 

Ill 1862, the Prize Medal was awarded the American inventor 
by the London International Exhibition. 

The first prize, in the onlv field experiment made in England 
of all the rival machines at the Exhibition, was presented to Mr. 
McCormiek. 

The first prize was awarded to the McCormick Reaper at the 
International Exhibition held, at Lille, France, as late as 1863, after 
a field trial oi the sharpest competition with all other machines. 

During the harvest of the same year (1863), in a most spirited 
and hard-fought field-contest of Reapers at the great International 
Exhibition of Hamburg, the Gold Medal was unanimously awarded 
to Mr. McCormick, in the language of the judges, for the best 
machine exhibited, and for " the practical introduction and im- 
provement or perfecting of the Reaping Machine." 

From this Exhibition, Governor Joseph A, Wright, United 
States Commissioner, in a communication made to the press of 
this country, said : " McCormick thrashes all nations, and walks 
off with the Golden Medal." 

Many other European Exhibitions, to say nothing of immerous 
State Fairs in America, have, with unanimity, awarded the McCor- 
mick Reaper and Mower their highest premiums. The National 
United States Agricultural Society, after a great trial of Reaping 
Ma(;hines, extending through nine days, at Syracuse, New York, 
in 1857, awarded Mr. McCormick the highest prize, their Grand 
Gold Medal of Honor. 

Next, and more striking still, we mention the Great Exposition 
of all Nations, meeting in Congress at Paris, in 186Y. 

In the report of the International Jury of this Universal Expo- 
sition, published by the Imperial Commission, occurs this statement : 

"The man who has labored most in tho general distribntion, perfection, and discov- 
pry of the first practical Reaper, is assiiredly Mr. McCormick, of Chicago, Illinois. It 
was in 1831 that this ingenious and persevering inventor constructed the first ma- 

40 



CYRUS HALL Mccormick. h 

chines of this kind, rude and imperfect when first tried. In all the Universal Exposi- 
tions, the first prize has been awarded to this admirable implement, and at this time, 
at Yincennes, as at FouiUeuse, under the most difficult conditions, its triumph has been 
complete. Equally as a benefactor of humanity, and as a skillful mechanician, Mr. 
McCormick has been judged worthy of the highest distinction of the Exposition." 

Tills report was made by Engeue Tlsseraiid, Director-General of 
the Imperial Domains. 

M. Anrellano, of the Danublan Principalities, in an Independent 
report, published b}^ the Exposition, says: — 

"It is Mr. McCormick who invented the first Reaper. He occupied himself with 
this question from 1831, and in 1851 there was seen, for the first time, figuring at the 
Exposition in London, a model Reaper. We have thought it necessary to give some 
details on tlie origin of Reapers, and in particular on those of Mr. McCormick, which 
are, it may be said, the type after which all others have been constructed." 

After the triumph of McCornilck's machine in the two great 
public trials on the Emperor's farms at Fouilleuse and Yincennes, 
he was iuvited by the Emperor to a private exhibition of his 
Keaper on his farm at Chalons, for the inspection of himself and 
officers of his army, then stationed at that military camp. It was 
accordingly put in operation there, under the superintendence 
of Mr. McCormick, and witnessed with great Interest and satisfac- 
tion for some three-quarters of an hour by the Emperor, Marshal 
MclSlel], Director-General Tisserand, and others. 

At this field trial, his Majesty was so pleased with the Keaper, 
that, acting under the impulse of the moment, he proposed to 
decorate Mr. McCormick with the cross of the Legion of Honor 
on the spot, and was only deterred from so doing by one of the 
olticers, who suggested that such a course, not being en regie, would 
tend to give dissatisfaction to rival exhibitors. 

Among the entries of the most magnificent awards of the 

ExDOsltlon are : — 

"Grand Prize. 

C. H. McCormick — Reaper. 

Gold Medal. 

C. H. McCormick — Reaper axd Mowek. 

Diploma of Chevalier. 

Imperial Order of the Legion op Honob. 

Nomination of Character. 

41 



12 CYRUS HALL McCORMICK. 

His Majesty, the Emperor, by decree of the ith January, 1868, has named Chevalier of t?ie 
Imperial Order of the Legion of Honor, Mr. Mc Cormick, of Chicago, inventor OF A 
NBW REAPING MACHINE, Exhibitor, to take rank from this day. 

Paris, 9th January, 1868."* 

The originality, as well as value, of the invention was further 
emphasized in the official report : 

"The man," it says, "wlio has worked the most to the discovery of the first practi- 
cal Reaper, and to the perfection and generalization of the machines, is assuredly Mr. 
McCormick, of Chicago, Illinois. It was in ] 831 that this ingenious and assiduous in- 
ventor constructed the first machine of this kind." 

Mr. McCormick was the only exhibitor, in this greatest of all 
the great international exhibitions, who received the Decoration 
of tlie Legion of Honor for *•' the invention " of his machine ; and 
also the only person in the Exposition who received hoth the Deco- 
ration and its Grand Prize. 

In a great trial of Reapers at Altenberg, Hungary, held in July, 
Ht the recommendation of the Hungarian government, at which 
not less than thirty-eight competing machines were catalogued, 
the first prize, a Gold Medal, and sixty ducats were awarded to 
the McCormick Reaper. 

And, finally, in the last harvest, of 1869, in the special Inter- 
national Exhibition of Reapers held at Altona, Prussia, there was 
awarded to the McCormick Reaper a diploma called the '• Rappell 
of previous Gold Medals," which, in the language of the official 
correspondent, communicating the intelligence, " the Exhibition 
placed above the Gold Medal." 

Inventors are sometimes unfairly reckoned among those erratic 
specimens of the race, who, poet-like, are "born, not made." 

They are, in fact, not generall}' what are called business men. 

They are in many cases inclined to be visionary, and without 
sufficient stability of purpose to pursue any one thing long and 
perseveringly enough to make it a success, even when success is 
attainable; such are often the difficulties through which a great 
success is achieved by an inventor. 

* The distinction of the Legion of Honor ia, by a recent law in France, to be con- 
ferred only for gallantry on the field of batile. 

43 



CYRUS HALL McCORMIOS;. 13 

The subject of this sketch is an illustration of the important 
truth that the genuine talents of the human mind are available 
and will pass current in anj market, whether it be mechanical, 
mercantile, scientifi(,', or literary, Mr. McCormick's originality 
has only been equaled by his tenacity and versatility. 

The steady assiduity and unswerving purpose with which, over 
a wide and ever-expanding field of usefulness, he has pushed 
forward his work, afford an example of a mind in easy equi- 
poise, capax rerum^ and one of which it may be said, as of 
Isaac Barrow's, " it is characterized by a certain air of powerful 
and of conscious facility in the execution of whatever it under- 
takes, seeming always to feel itself superior to the occasion, and 
which, in contending with the graatest ditficulties, pats forth but 
half its strength." 

As a writer, Mr. McCormick is easy, graceful, and strong. When 
interested in his theme his pen moves with great power and au- 
thority, as those who have provoked him to discussion will avouch. 
This was strikingly shown in the famous controversy in Scotland 
in 1863, concerning the merits and invention of the Reaper. 

There, on foreign soil, alone, browbeaten by Scotchmen for 
having beaten them in the Reaper, and combating the leading agri- 
cultural journal of Scotland, the Norili Britinh Agricnlturist^ 
representing the ungenerous pride and stubborn prejudice of its 
countrymen, Mr. McCormick, in the judgment of the more 
disinterested press, came off victor. 

The correspondence with this journal originated about the award 
of the Gold Medal to Mr. McCormick by the Implement Jury at the 
Hamburg International Exhibition. The editor of the Agriculturist 
desired to make it appear that this award was only an honorary 
thing. But a letter from one of the jury, published in the course 
of the correspondence, confirmed the fact that the award " means 
exactly what it says." 

The Mark Lane Express^ of London, the first agricultural paper 
of England, on the 26th of October, in an editorial on the " Battle 

43 



14: CYRUS HALL McCORMICK. 

of tlie Reapers," said tliat " while the editor of the North British 
Agriculturist shows much zeal for liis countryman's (Rev. Pat- 
rick Bell) machine, we must say that we think the facts and ar- 
guments of Mr. McCormick are presented with a clearness and 
force which seem unanswerable in establishing that he was the first 
to invent the leading features of the successful Reaping Machine of 
the present day ; that he continued regularly the improvement and 
prosecution of the same to the perfection of the machine, and that 
this — in the slightly-varied language of the different scientific juries 
of the various Great International Exhibitions of the world — consti- 
tutes tlie invention of the Reaping Machine." 

'' In fact," says this London journal, " before the Great JS'ational 
Exhibition of 1851, if Reaping Machines were invented, they were 
unknown to the English farmers. We extract some paragraphs 
from Mr. McCorniick's letter, which appeared in the North British 
Agriculturist of October 15th, which seems to have closed the dis- 
cussion and appears to us to settle the question." {Mark Lane 
Express^ 

The following is the letter referred to by the Mark Lane 

Exjpress : — 

Palace Hotel, Buckikgham Gate, Loxdoji, 

Oduler 12, 18G3. 

Sir : — As stated in my letter of last week, I did hope there would be no occasion for 
my further use of the columns of the Agriculturist. I felt so for two reasons : one of 
which was, that while I could neither doubt my right fairly to defend myself, throu,t;h 
the same medium, against assaults made upon my rights or interests, through a public jour- 
nal, nor your " generous " disposition to accord to me that right, yet I did not hke, even 
under these circumstances, to stand debtor as the recipient of " commercial " benefit 
without a quidpro quo. The other reason was my desire to close a controversy with the 
editor not anticipated; and, though in self-del'ense at any rate, reluctantly entered into. 
Nevertheless, I must beg to say that I can not consent to be cut short just as the matter 
now stands-; nor would I acknowledge the Scotch blood that courses through my own 
veins, if the Scotch public oould justify such an excision. 

The public can now judge, even with your latest comments before them, of my posi- 
tion on the first question raised in the case through the " British Press;" and as to the 
question of the " invention of the Reaping Machine," so far- as the views and feelings 
of the editor are concerned, and had been expressed, I was not only quite satisfied, but 
felt, as I said, that my thanks were due to him. I can well understand and appreciate 
his national feeling upon the question; but when he afterward not only changes his 
own ground upon that question, but undertakes my disparagement — not only by the 

44 



CYRUS PALL McCORMIOK. 15 

reproduction of a description of matter deemed unworlliy of notice by the Commissioner 
of Patents, who sat in judgment upon it, but with a corresponding spirit on his part — I 
must claim to bo lieard in reply. 

If, as the editor says, ''Mr. McCormick is a foreigner, and entitled to at least the 
claim which he makes." he places himself in a singularly inconsistent position in refusing 
me in the next breath that very '• opportunity," after further characterizing my connec- 
tion with the Reaping Machine as " rather that of a commercial and successful speculator 
than that of a real inventor!" And this, while I have carefully avoided the .shghtest 
disparagement of the Rev. Patrick Bell, although it now appears that the notice, by the 
editor, of the " American machines, chielly imitations of Bell's Reaper," disposed of iu 
my last, and " the words of the Remonstrance by Citizens of New York " against the 
e.xtension of my patent in 1834, now adopted by the editor as his reply to me, are but 
the reproductions of what Mr. Bell has himself in years past had published in the 
columns of the North British Agriculturist. But I am happy to have learned that, while 
the correspondence has been closed in its past form, the editor does yet recognize my 
right of reply tlirough his correspondence columns, as an "advertisement," which also 
removes my first objection to its continuance, and will, "I trust, make it more pleasant to 
the taste of my respected anonymous assailants, whose ear-marks are still visible. 

And how does " its commercial character betray its origin, and almost confirm — if 
confirmation were needed — what we contended for?" I surely need not say to the 
editor of the North British Agriailturifit, that in Reaping Machines, that which has no 
" commercial value, has really no value at all ; and if I have furnished the best evidence 
of the great commercial value of my Reaping Machine iu the demand which has been 
found fur it, is that to be taken as proof against me as a " real inventor ?" With a simple 
statement of "established facts," I shall leave others to characterize such a course by 
an intelligent and responsible editor of a public journal — not by interested and irrespon- 
sible signers of a remonstrance, proved also by the very face of tli£ir own paper lo liave 
been wholly unworthy of notice. 

But the editor says my '■communication does not give a single new fact as to the 
invention of the Reaper." While this as a " fact," as already stated, was not pretended, 
how does it apply to the readers of the North British Agriculturist, which is the proper 
test of the correctness of the statement made by the editor? What I want is a knowl- 
edge of existing facts. The position taken by the North British Agriculturist, whether 
by its editor, or others writing for its columns, and upon which the whole superstruc- 
ture of its reasoning has been founded, has been that mj invention origmated with my 
patent in 1834; while upon this assumption only could the "American inventors" 
referred to, even with their abortive experiments, be made available. And the report 
of I'^xaminer Page to Commissioner Burke has, on the same ground, been used to show 
priority of Obed Hussey to me. The explanation and proof on this point, furnished in 
my last and conceded by the editor, establishes my priority to Hussej' and all the other 
"American inventors," and places them, therefore, in the position to have "borrowed" 
from me, instead of me from tliem. And still the editor, in his last commentary, with 
ttie evidence also before him of Commissioner Burke to the originalit\' and value of my 
Reaping Machine, wholly ignores this fact in his statement that nothing '• new " has 
been presented, and also in his use of the references of the remonstrants. 

Now, one or two observations on the facts further elicited : First, although T did not 
patent my Reaper till 1834, and whilst I " preferred not to sell a Reaper until ] 8:59 " (for 
use in 1840), Bell never patented his, and never sold one until about the time when he 
adopted my cutting apparatus, when it was of course no longer a Bell's Reaper — and 

45 



IQ CYRUS HALL MoCORMICK 

after tlio character of my Reaper had been established throughout the world. If Bell 
was then a "divinity student," I was at the same time a " farmer's boy." 

Second. While Hu?sey may have sold a very few Reaping Machines between IS."?! 
and 1840, using in them prominent features of my prior invention, mine was operating 
regularly and successfully every year from 1831 onward, in numerous public exhibitions 
abroad, as well as in tlie home harvest, having cut with it fifty acres of corn in 1832, 
while at the same time undergoing improvements, so that, when I commenced the sale 
of it, that sale increased uniformly and rapidly. And tlius being the first to invent the 
loading features of the ultimately successful Reaping Machine, and having continued reg- 
ularly the improvement and prosecution of the same to the perfection of tlie machine, it 
is respectfully submitted that this, in the slightly varied language of the different scien- 
tific juries of the great international exhibitions of the world, constitutes the invention 
of the Reaping Machine. 

What then are these original features of the successful Reaping Machine of the present 
day? " They are, first, the application of the draught forward and at one side of the 
machine, called the side-draioght machine, which was successfully done in my first 
machine of 1831, as shown in my patent — the application of the power at tlie rear, as 
referred to by the New York remonstrants, only having been experimented with in a 
machine constructed immediately preceding my application for the patent, but wliich was 
not continued afterward. The side-draught had first been used with a single horse in 
shafts, when it was thought a ivider machine might be propelled to advantage from the 
rear: hence the experiment. 

Second, the cutting apparatus, with a serrated reciprocating blade operating in fingers 
or supports to the cutting, over the edge of the sickle. This was also done by me suc- 
cessfully in 1831, with the single bearing or support on one side of the sickle, and with 
the double hearing (on both sides) in 1832, as proved by the testimony taken in the case, 
when this machine cut fifty acres of grain. 

Third, the fixed j5Zai/o?'m of boards for receiving and retaining the corn as cut and de- 
posited thereon by the gathering reel, until collected in a sufficient quantity or size for 
a sheaf. 

Fourth, discharging it from the platfmin on the ground in sheaves at the side of the 
machine, out of the track of the horses in their next passage round. 

Fifth, a divider for .separating, in connection luith the reel, the corn to be cut from that 
to be left standing — a further improvement upon which (with still other improvements 
in detail), having become the subject of a patent in 1845 ; while the arrangement of a 
suitable seat on the machine so as to enable the attendant the more easily and com- 
pletely to deliver the corn from it, was also a subject of a third patent in 1847. 

And now, while in law he who fails to reach the point of practical and valuable suc- 
cess does nothing, and he who continuously and vigorously prosecutes his invention and 
improvements to that point is allowed to prove bank to his first experiments — with 
these foundation principles claimed in my machine, how does Mr. Bell stand on the editoi's 
idea of " the great similarity of the general principles adopted in Reaping Machines ? '' 
Propelling them /rom i/ie rear was the method adopted in nearl}' all the expeiimcnis 
made from the time of the Gauls to the time of Bell's connection with the Reaping 
Machine. The editor has shown that Salmon^s machine cut by sJ^ears (in 1S07, as 
Bell's), and Smithes laid the corn in swath in ISll — which was also done by my fa- 
ther's machine in 1816; while I must again be permitted to repeat that Bell's machine, 
while lost to the public at least in 1851, never would have been practically and com- 
mercially valuable with his cutting shears, and his impracticable gathering reel of ' two 

46 



CYRUS HALL McCORMICK. 17 

and a half feet in diameter," instead of mine of six to eight feet, asfiist tised in its con- 
nection with my cutting apparatus, afterward adopted by liim. 

To leave nothing of the adopted " repl.y, in the words of the remonstrance," a word 
further on it. "The team attached to the rear" has been explained in this letter. The 
remonstrance says my " platform is described as about six feet broad. Bell's machine 
is described as just six feet broad." The editor knovs that "Bell's machine has wo 
Iplatfonn !'" "Ball's reel," like ot\\eT unsuccessful "gathering racks " and reels before 
it, has also been explained. The remonstrance then refers to one of two methods for 
cutting described in my patent, which also cut well but was not continued, the former 
being found the simpler. The claims of " tlie American inventors," Randal, Schnebly, 
and Husse}', have been disposed of as subsequent to my invention; and that of " Moore 
and Hascall " was simply the application of my original serrated edge to the "scal- 
loped (or saw) edged " blade (by Manning), while the drmv cut principle in mine was 
entirely different and superior — and, as perfected in the patented combination of the 
open (or very obtuse) angle of the ^ckle with the angular finger, is yet superior to all 
others. And the seat, with its importance and value, as patented by me in 1847, was 
in vain sought to be overthrown in the courts by the introduction of the " llussey and 
Randal seats." I am, etc., 

C. H. McCORMICK. 

Thus, after winning the battle of the Reapers in tlie harvest-fields 
of Europe, the inventor won them over again in the columns of 
an unfriendly British press. 

Without singleness of aim and indomitable perseverance in pur- 
suit of his object, an inventor can hardW hope for success. 

The Roman poet's description of the man, 

" Justum ao tenacem propositi," 

emphatically marked the career of our subject. 

On one occasion, in 1859, in the great suit of McCormick v. 
Seymour & Morgan, for an infringement of his patent, in the ab- 
sence of a witness fur his patent of 1845, the defendants, upon a 
pretense, desired to put off' the trial for the term ; but the plaintiff, 
against the advice of his lawyers, boldly pressed forward the trial 
upon his patent of 181:7 alone, and obtained a judgment for dam- 
ages to an amount exceeding $17,000. In the final trial by the 
Supreme Court of the United States of the great case of McCor- 
mick V. Manny & Co., when the verdict was in favor of the latter, 
in 1858, as not infringing McCormlck's patents of 1845 and 1817 — 
when they had the free use of all the original principles in the 
expired patent of 1831 — the decision was made by four out of seven 

47 



15 CYRUS HALL Mccormick, 

of the judges sitting, the other three being in favor of a verdict for 
plaintiff, but only one of whom wrote out his dissenting opinion. 
This, too, when it was argued that a verdict for plaintiff would not 
only rnin defendant, but prevent the manufacture of a single Keap- 
ing Machine without a license from plaintiff, while a verdict for 
defendant would leave plaintiff in possession of his patents and 
business unaffected. Nevertheless, it was believed by counsel for 
plaintiff that, had a full court of nine judges been sitting, the ma- 
jority would have rendered a verdict for plaintiff. Tiie result, 
however, did not discourage Mr. McCormick. He appears to have 
learned at an early period of his life the difficult art of turning 
dei'eat into victory, and securing the fruits of evei-y success by chas- 
tening it with moderation and prudence ; for without these success 
was unattainable, the path of the inventor lying amid chilling dis- 
appointments, not less forbidding than those which often beset the 
track of the Arctic explorer. 

With the invention of the Keaper, Mr. McCorraick's fertility of 
mfnd was by no means exhausted, but rather quickened and stim- 
ulated. Prior to his invention of the Reaper, he invented and 
patented two plows for horizontal plowing on hilly ground. The 
second of these ingenious contrivances, especially, called a " Sdf- 
Sliarjpening Horizontal Plow," while skillfully arranged, was 
simple and effective in its construction and a very valuable and 
superior implement to the agriculturist in hilly countries. But, 
suffering delay (as did the Reaper at first) in getting the merits of 
the invention prominently before the public, and not procuring the 
extension of the patent, it gradually fell into disuse for want of 
the requisite attention and perseverance in its introduction. 

Although his great invention must be regarded as tlie distin- 
guishing triumph of Mr. McCormick's life, there are other fields 
in which his character has been developed and his influence felt. 
Pie is known to the public not only by his former connection with 
the religious and secular press of Chicago, but by the contro- 
versies, like those we have already alluded to, into which he has 

48' 



CYRUS HALL McCORMICK. 19 

been drawn, in the prosecution of his leading aims of life and 
defense of his course as a public man. 

In his political course Mr. McCormiek has ever acted with de- 
cision and consistency, following without faltering or coniproniiso 
his convictions of right. With this fact in view, it will not seem 
surprising that in times of great national excitement, his opinions 
have been misrepresented bj some and misunderstood by others. 

Born and reared in the South, having his home in the West, and 
his business associations leading him into close intercourse with tho 
East, he has ever been in the hroadest sense of the term, a national 
man, free from those sectional prejudices which have resulted so 
unfortunately for the nation. The platform on which he firmly 
stood during the war was that of national union and the rights of 
the respective States under the Federal Constitution. 

Convinced that the election of Mr. Lincoln to tlie Presidency in 
1860, by a pureh'' sectional vote, would afibrd an excuse or serve as 
a pretext for precipitating disorder and civil strife upon the country; 
and impressed with the belief, by his intimate knowledge of Southern 
character, that the war, if inaugurated, would be prolonged and 
disastrous, he labored earnestly for the success of the Democratic 
party, regarding it as the only party that could present a successful 
barrier against disunion on the one hand, or Federal encroachments 
on the other, and thus bring peace to a divided people. lie at- 
tended the Democratic IsTational Convention in Baltimore, and it 
is due to him to state that had his counsels been followed the 
disruption that ensued would not have taken place. In 1864, dur- 
ing the spirited Presidential contest between Lincoln and McClel- 
lan, he was presented by the Democratic and Conservative voters 
of Chicago as their candidate for Congress, and, although unsuc- 
cessful, conducted the most vigorous political contest ever known 
in that city. 

Mr. McCormiek was an advocate of peace, on a basis honor- 
able alike to the North and to the South. During the contest it 
was charged by the Pcpublicans that the Democratic party de- 
4 " 49 



20 CYRUS HALL McCORMICK. 

signed a dishononible peace with the South ; and subsequent to 
the triumph of Mr. Lincoln, when no such suspicion could be enter- 
tained, Mr. McCormick published a proposition that the Demo- 
cratic party, by convention, should select a commission from the 
Democracy, with the sanction of President Lincoln, to meet a 
similar delegation from the South, to effect a termination of the 
war, in a restoration of the Union — a proposition received with 
much favor by prominent Democrats and conservative Republicans, 
and by some leading newspapers on both sides ; but the measure 
failed from the difficulty of obtaining a call of the convention. 

In 1859, the subject of this notice founded and munificently en- 
dowed the Theological Seminary of the Northwest, at Chicago. 
After the institution, however, had fairly entered upon its career, 
it, unfortunately, fell into the hands of a small but irresponsible 
and unreliable party, determined to pervert the endowment from 
the purpose it was originally designed to accomplish. Unwilling 
that the fund he had bestowed for a specific object should be used 
in violation of the terms and conditions on which it had been given, 
the donor firmly refused to pay over the last installment on his bond 
as demanded of him, or so long as the seminary remained under 
the control of those who grossly misrepresented its founder, and 
the friends with whom he co-operated. The professor who had 
caused himself to be put in the "McCormick Chair of Theology," 
in " a long and severe tirade," printed in a church paper, went so 
far as to charge Mr. McCormick with simony. But, in a series of 
letters (published in 1868 and 1869, in the Northwestern Pteshyte- 
rian), which, for dignity, chasteness of style, and clear analysis 
liave seldom been excelled in controversial discussions, Mr. McCor- 
mick vindicated himself from the charges made against him, and 
proved that, like Shy lock of old, his adversary had harped only 
on " the bond ! the bond ! " 

In answer to this malicious attack Mr. McCormick replied by a 
dignified and unvarnished recital of facts, supported by a weight 
of evidence crushing to his opponent. Subsequently the cora- 

50 



CYRUS HALL Mccormick. 21 

mittoe appointed bj tlie General Assembly to investigate these 
Seminary difficulties made a unanimous report, fully sustaining 
Mr. MeCormick in the course he had pursued and releasing him 
from the payment of the " simony " bond ! 

"Within a few years Mr, McCormick has endowed a Professorship 
in Washington College, Virginia, an institution founded by and 
named in honor of " the father of his country^'' — recently under the 
presidency of General Robert E. Lee. lie also has made large dona- 
tions to the Union Theological Seminary of Virginia, and to other 
societies in connection with the Presbyterian Church. 

During his eventful struggle, on many fields of ardent and 
painful rivalry, Mr. McCormick remained single until the year 
1858. He then married a daughter of Melzar Fowler, an orphan 
niece of Judge E. G. Merick (at the time, of Clayton, Jefferson 
County, New York, but at present a citizen of Detroit), a highly 
gifted and accomplished lady, whose elegant and kindly attractions 
grace her hospitai:)le mansion. 

He has four interesting children, one son and three daughters. 
The eldest, eleven years of age, is a boy of more than ordinary 
intelligence. 

The valley of Virginia, especially that portion around Lexing- 
ton, was largely settled by families adhering in sentiments to the 
political cause of Cromwell, and by the Old School Presbyterians, 
in whose creed Mr. McCormick was instructed, and whicli he 
afterward embraced, in about the twenty-fifth year of his age. 

In 1865 he removed from Chicago to Kew York, where he 
became interested in some important enterprises, including the 
Union Pacific Railroad, in which for some years he has been a 
Director. 

And, now, in bringing this imperfect notice to a close, we may 
add a word upon the story it conveys. The individuality of the 
inventor is lost in the value of the invention. A late writer, after 
brilliantly portraying the events which led to the discovery of the 
Pacific Ocean by Vasco Nunez, remarks: "Every great and 

51 



22 CYRUS HALL McCORMICK. 

origiDal action has a prospective greatness — ^not alone from tlic 
thought of the man wlio achieved it, but from the various aspects 
and high thouglits which the same action will continue to present 
and call up in the minds of others to the end, it may be, of all 
time." The result of human activity has an unlimited divergence 
like the rays of the sun. In the instance just quoted, Nunez, with 
folded arms and bent knees, ofi'ered thanks to God for having re- 
vealed to him the famed South Sea ; so little did he dream that he 
had discovered the great ocean whose mighty waters cover more 
than one half of our entire planet. Nor is this disproportion be- 
tween the value of the discovery, as at first estimated and as finally 
realized, a tiling of rare occurrence. An English mechanic once 
constructed an engine for pumping water out of a coal-pit, little 
thinking he was thus revolutionizing the world by machinery 
moved by steam. The early philosophers of Greece in treating the 
Conic Sections never suspected that they were furnishing means 
for the mensuration of the heavens, and were unconsciously laying 
the foundations of astronomy. " Human inventions," to use the 
words of Captain Maury, '* are important geographical agents, and 
the various mechanical improvements of the age have greatly 
changed the face of our country and the industrial pursuits of the 
people. Before Whitney's invention of the cotton-gin, the culti- 
vation of cotton in the South was confined to a small ' patch ' on 
each farm. About seventy years ago, an American ship from 
Charleston, arriving in England with ten bales of cotton as part of 
her cargo, was seized on the ground that so much cotton could not 
be produced in the United States. In 1860 the production had 
reached four luillions of bales and upward." 

Eaiment is to the human family second in imj^ortance to food. 
When the Reaper, by which the harvests of the world's breadstuffs 
are sickled, attains the age of Whitney's invention, how vast, how 
bright, the prospect of its use and its utility ! 




^^lU^^^ 




GEOEGE LAW. 

'^ EORGE LAW was of Irish extraction, his father, John 
Law, having been honi in the north of Ireland. He 
came to this country in 1784, and settled in Jackson, 
Washington county. New York, where the subject of this sketch 
was born, in 1SC6. His father was a substantial farmer, raising 
a large number of cattle, and kec]iing the most extensive dairy 
in the county. His pon assisted in the labors of the farm 
until he attained the age ot eighteen, enjoying such means of 
education as were afibrded by the cchcols of the country. He 
contracted a strong taste for leading in his early days, which 
increased with advancing years, until his habit of studying the 
best works on history, science, and the higher branches of 
litQi-ature became inflexible, and by dint of patient and careful 
investigation he got to be one of the best informed men of 
the day. His memory was uncommonly tenacious, and. what he 
once perused he never forgot, so that his mind was well stored 
and his information always available. There never lived a man 
more exclusively self-made. He instructed himself thoroughly 
in everything necessary to a perfect comprehension of the 
important part he was to perform on the world's stage. From 
the time he left his father's house up to the year 1839, when he 
contracted to build the High Bridge which spans the Harlem 
River, conveying the Croton water at a giddy height across that 
stream, he was continuously employed on the public works of dif- 
ferent States, principally New York and Pennsylvania. He began 
in a subordinate capacity, but soon advanced to the position of 
superintending and sub-contracting, and then to be one of the most 
extensive contractors of his time, in which he laid the foundation 

53 



2 GEORGE LAW. 

of his fortune. His engagements were always in constructing rail- 
roads and canals. He was popular with his men, always treating 
them with humane consideration, and fulfilling his engagements 
with them to the letter. "While the High Bridge — which will stand 
for ages as a monument of his unerring judgment and consummate 
skill — was in process of construction, he sailed for Europe. He 
was in Paris in December, 1 840, when the body of Kapoleon was 
brought there from St. Helena. He remained abroad until the 
summer of 1841, visiting all the most interesting places on the 
continent, and spending some time in London. He described what 
he saw in a vivid and graphic manner, presenting a distinct image 
to the mind of the listener, and rendering intelligible and satisfac- 
tory what was before vague, misty, and incomprehensible. His 
language is simple, natural, and unambitious, and his narrative 
power is something extraordinary. He examined the battle- 
ground of Waterloo with patient care, understanding the disposi- 
tion and movements of the contending armies with perfect clear- 
ness ; and his accomit of that momentous struggle is as impressive 
a picture as that painted by the pen of Victor Hugo. He saw 
Yesuvius under the most auspicious conditions, and he so describes 
the spectacle that his hearers seem to witness the volume of smoke 
and flame issuing from the crater, and the burning lava pouring 
down the sides of the mountain. On his return to the United 
States, Mr. Law engaged successively in many different enterprises, 
for constant occupation was indispensable to him, all of which he 
conducted with that practical intelligence, wise discretion, and 
persistent energy that never fail to achieve great results. In 1842 
he bought largely into the Harlem Railroad. The affairs of the 
company had been so grossly mismanaged that the property of the 
shareholders was nearly all dissipated. The stock had a nominal 
value of five per cent., but there was no market for it oven at that 
low figure. The company was overwhelmed with debt. It was 
not earning even the running expenses of the road, and hopeless 
bankruptcy seemed inevitable. At this juncture Mr. Law pur- 

54 



GEORGE LAW. 3 

chased a majority of the stock, and took upon himself the sole 
management of the road. lie infused new life into its direction, 
provided for its outstanding debts, introduced a wise economy 
where all before had been foolish extravagance, and in an incred- 
ibly short period of time, the stock rose from five to seventy-five 
j)er cent. He was next persuaded to undertake the resuscitation 
of the Hudson and Mohawk Railroad, running between Albany 
and Schenectady, then swamped by a floating debt of a quarter of 
a million. The capital stock was a million and a quarter, and its 
market value was then twenty-seven per cent. There was an in- 
clined 23lane at Albany and another at Schenectady. The road 
was badl}^ managed, the stockholders discontented and ready to 
accept any terms which Mr. Law might be disposed to ofier, lie 
bought into it, and immediately assumed the control of its affairs. 
He dispensed with the inclined planes, changed the line of the 
road, carrying it around the hills, bringing it into the centre of 
Albany, and connecting its western terminus with the Utica road. 
He reduced the yearly expenses more than a hundred per cent, 
re-stocked the road, and wlien he left it, at the end of two yeai-s, 
its market value had increased two hundred per cent. The stock 
soon rose to par, and at the time of the consolidation it bore a 
handsome premium. 

In 1847, Mr. Law embarked in the crowning enterprise of his 
life. In that year he commenced the preparations which ended in 
his becoming the owner, by building and purchase, of sixteen ocean 
steamers. The vast treasures of California had become partially 
known to the world. Colonel Sloo, of Ohio, had contracted with 
the United States Government to transport the mails between the 
Atlantic coast and California by the way of New Orleans and 
Chagres- Sloo had not the means to fulfill his contract, and he 
opened negotiations with Mr. Law in order to obtain his aid in 
carrying out the project. With the eye of a statesman as well as 
a sagacious lousiness man, Mr. Law discerned the importance to 
the nation of securing this immense trade against the competition 

55 



4 GEORGE LAW. 

of Great Britain. The commerce of tLc Soutli Pacific was monop- 
olized by her far-seeing merchants, and nothing but the bold ente]-- 
prise and almost illimitable resources of George Law prevented 
them from gaining possession of the entire trade of the North 
Pacific and California. His great movement was inspired by the 
highest motives of patriotism, the vast returns from the investment 
being a secondary consideration. The steamer " Falcon," which he 
bought in 1845, took the first passengers to Chagres which reached 
California by steam. Soon after he built the " Ohio " and 
"Georgia," which commenced running in January, 1849. But 
we have not room for further details of his operations on the ocean. 
One transaction, however, was so characteristic of Mr. Law, and 
illustrates so fully his firmness, independence, and sense of fairness 
and rectitude, that in justice to him it should not be omitted. In 
1852, the authorities of Cuba issued an order prohibiting the 
" Crescent City," or any other vessel having on board Mr. Smith, 
the purser of the " Crescent City," from entering the harbor of 
Havana ; he having in some way given offence to the Captain- 
General of the Island. Mr. Law refused to submit to this arbitrary 
demand, and appealed to the Govermnent at Waslimgton. The 
timid and temporizing policy of the Administration led them to 
evade the real question, and to recommend that the Cuban author- 
ities should be appeased by the removal of tlie obnoxious purser. 
This course was repugnant to Mr. Law's sense of v/hat was due to 
himself as well as Smith, and he peremptorily declined to accept 
the suggestion. The President — whose infirmity of purpose wan 
notorious — told Mr, Law Ihat if his steamer was lestroyed he 
would have no claim for damages. Mr. Law replied, with much 
spirit, that if the Government could not protect its own citizens in 
their rights, the fact ought to be known. That, for his part, he 
was confident that the American people would not look with com- 
posure upon any dereliction of the Government in that regard. 
The result was, that although the Captain-General threatened to 
sink the " Crescent City" if she attempted to pass the Moro Castle 

56 



GEORGE LAW. 5 

witli Smitli on board, he was retained. The vessel continued her 
trips, and the order was finally withdrawn. 

In 1852, the great enterprise of crossing the Isthmus from Aspin- 
wall to Panama by rail was languishing from want of confidence 
in the undertaking, and the difficulty of providing the requisite 
means to surmount the almost invincible difficulties presented by 
tlie obstacles of high mountain ranges, deep ravines, and a climate 
so charged with miasma as to be dangerous to human life. The 
vast importance of an early completion of the road so impressed 
Mr. Law, that he visited Cha,o;res and Panama in order to inform 
himself by personal examination in respect to the feasibility of the 
undertaking. After purchasing into the road to the extent of half 
a million of dollars, ho went to Aspinwall and Panama, located a 
terminus, and set men at work on the road, and in constructing a 
dock and station for steamers, which was the first accommodation 
of the kind for commerce between the tvv'o oceans ever provided in 
that country. He came home in April, 1852, having visited 
Hglvana, Jamaica, Porto Bello, San Juan, and 'New Orleans, and 
made a careful scrutiny into the resources and capacity of those 
important places. On his return he made a report respecting the 
difiiculties of the undertaking, and the prospective advantages of 
connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. > The judgment of Mr. 
Law was accepted as undoubted authority, and the money to com- 
plete the work was forthcoming. When he bought into the road, 
the market value of the stock was seventy-five per cent. The fol- 
lowing year it rose over one hundred per cent. 
< His connection with the Eighth Avenue Railroad, one of the 
most important thoroughfares in the city, was made under similar 
circumstances.^ Certain parties had procured a grant for the road, 
but they were unable to complete the work, and the charter was 
about to lapse by its own limitation — two and one-half months 
only remaining of the time in which it was required to be built. 
Mr. Law advanced $800,000, and completed the work within the 
specified period. He has been engaged in many other enterprises 

57 



6 GEORGE LAW. 

of more or less magnitude, all of tliem being of public utility and 
importance. But it is liardly necessary to rehearse them in detail ; 
suffice it to say that no man ever lived in Ainerica who has accom- 
plished one-half that which has been achieved by Mr. Law in pro- 
moting public internal improvements, enlarging the field of our 
ocean traffic, and augmenting the prosperity of the country. / 

In the early stage of the Rebellion, the Government at Wash- 
ington was wholly unequal to the exigencies of the situation. Tlie 
tremendous issues which the Administration had to confront, over- 
whelmed the President and his Cabinet. There was neither states- 
manship, firmness, nor confidence in Congress or the Executive 
Department. The news of the appalling and wholly unexpected 
defeat of the Federal forces iit Bull Run fell upon the country 
with crushing force, while it created such a panic in Washington 
that Mr. Lincoln and the timid and incompetent men around him 
cast about for the means of escaping the impending danger. An 
immediate attack from the victorious Confederate army was gener- 
ally apprehended. So abject and utter was the pervading terror, 
that Mr. Lincoln ordered an armed vessel lying at Greenleaf Point 
to be kept under a full head of steam, ready to transjDort himself 
and family to a place of safety; and it was currently reported, 
without contradiction, that he frequently visited the steamer to 
ascertain by personal examination that his directions were strictly 
obeyed. The Secretary of War, equally overcome by his fears, 
had a train in readiness on the JSTorthern Central Railroad, with 
steam constantly up, with which to flee with his family to the in- 
terior of Pennsylvania. And l)ut for the calm intrepidity and the 
wise and soldierly assurances of General Scott, by which the terrors 
of the President and Cabinet were allayed and partially removed, 
it may be doubted whether there would not have been an utter 
rout of the Administration, leaving the Capital of the nation to the 
mercy of the rebels. The wliole North was distressed, disgusted, 
almost paralyzed, by the magnitude of the perils by which we 
were menaced. So strong and all-pervading was the sense of inse- 

68 



GEORGE LAW. 7 

curity and danger, tliat extraordinary measures wei'e clamorously 
demanded. At this juncture Mr. Eajmond. oftlie!N"ew York Times, 
proposed a revolutionary movement as the only means of saving 
the nation. His outcry seemed to embody the popular sentiment, 
and when he suggested that the authorities at Washington should 
be deposed as unequal to the emergency, and a Provisional Govern- 
ment created with George Lavv'^ for its head, with the power of a 
Dictator, the country stood aghast at the audacity of the man who 
could contemplate such a proceeding. Still there was a sensation 
of relief produced by the reflection that the services of one so com- 
petent, so self-contained, with such a profound knowledge of men, 
and means so ample, were at the disposition of the people. The 
proposition, altliough startling at the cutset, soon came to be 
calmly considered, and there seemed to be a general concurrence 
of opinion that something had to be done immediately, if the seat 
of government was to be successfully defended, and that if it 
biecame necessary to set aside the Washington Government, Mr. 
Law was the man to be invested with supreme authority. This 
brief description of the situation in 18G1 is given as an indication 
of the popular estimate of the practical wisdom, the sound judg- 
ment, and the vast resources of George Law. For many years of 
his life, and even after he had acquired much of his large wealth, 
the character and attributes of Mr. Law were utterly misunderstood 
and misconceived throughout the country. Up to a late period of 
his life, there was the strangest discre])ancy between the popular 
estimation of Mr. Law and the man himself. lie had been con- 
cerned in so many important enterprises in connection with the 
public works in different parts of the country, and his name was 
so identified with steam navigation on our inland waters, as well 
as on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, that he was as generally 
known as any other private American citizen. And notwithstand- 
ing the uniform skill, intelligence, and success with which his busi- 
ness operations were conducted, none but his intimate friends and 
those who became acq^uainted with him in the prosecution of these 

59 



8 GEORGE LAW. 

nndertakings had the remotest idea of the intellectual oi* moral 
nature of George Law. The general impression was that he had 
attained to opulence by lucky speculations and thrifty contracts, 
into which he had been led by an overmastering desire for gain, 
avarice being his master passion. Whcreajs, in fact, his large 
estate has been acquired by wise forecast, intelligent calculation, 
and the energetic prosecution of immense enterprises conceived for 
the twofold purpose of promoting the general good and receiving 
a fair return therefrom. If a hackneyed phrase could be excused 
in this connection, we might say that Mr. Law is one of the most 
remarkable man of the age. Considering his humble origin and the 
privations of his childhood and earlier youth, what he has accom- 
plished l)y his own unaided exertions, the extent to which he has 
educated himself, his solid acquirements in many branches of useful 
knowledge, his wonderful skill in managing men, and his general 
effective power, are a marvel to all who know him. lie is an origi- 
nal and profound thinker, with a brain as clear as a bell, working 
with the precision of the most perfectly ordered machine. We 
have never known a more Bclf-containcd man, or one who brings 
to the consideration of every subject of which he takes cogni- 
zance a healthier or stronger intellect, or who is more certain to 
arrive at a correct conclusion. His mental structure is as massiv*c 
and potent as his physical. lie is a giant in stature, and his mind 
is correspondingly large, operating slowly and with great delibera- 
tion, but with ponderous force. He is methodical and systematic 
in his habits and mode of doing business. He is equable in tem- 
per, self-poised, rarely excited, and never thrown from his balance. 
He is an eminently just man; he fulfils all his engagements with 
fidelity, and never prosecuted an enterprise by dishonorable and 
questionable means. 

In politics, he sympathizes with the Democratic party, but of 
late years has taken no active part in elections. But he has all 
the elements requisite in a great leader, and is capable of exerting 
a controlling influence in any sphere, however extended. 

60 




"'""m h, Emily Satlai'' ^^' 





. PKA^:F:R 37 ' 



r 



HOK GALUSHA A. GEOW. 

[We are indebted to the enterprivsing publishing house of Zeigler, McCurdy & Co., Phi- 
ladelphia, publishers of '■ Men of Our Day," for the greater part of this sketch] 

W^ALUSIiA A. GEOW is a native of AshforJ (now East- 
^^^ ford), Windham County, Connecticut, where lie was born, 
^^^^ August 31, 1821, At the tender age of three years, he 
lost his father, Joseph Grow, v.ho died, leaving six children, the 
eldest of whom was but fourteen years old and the youngest an 
infant, and a property, the proceeds of which were barely sufficient 
to pay his debts. Galusha was sent to live with his grandfatlier, 
Captain Samuel Robbins, of Voluntown, in tlie eastern part of 
the county, with whom he remained until he was ten years old, 
performing the work common to fai-mers' boys of his age, viz., 
driving oxen to plow, milking, '-riding horse"' to furrow out corn, 
"doing chores," otc— and attending district school in the winters. 
About that time his mother removed to Pennsjdvania, where she 
purchased a farm in Susquehanna County, on the Tunkhannock 
Creek, at a place called Glenwood, where slie resided until her 
death, in 1864; and which is still the home of her four sons, of 
whom all, except Galusha and his oldest brotljer, are married. 
The farm which this good matron purchased was paid for partly at 
that time, and partly in annual payments; and it required the 
exercise of much thrift on her part, as well as the united industry 
of all her children, to make, as the saying is, "both ends meet." 
She opened a small country-store, which one of her boys tended, 
while two others worked the farm and engaged in lumbering, 
Galusha, being the youngest boy, assisted his brother in the store, 
and accom})anied bim, in tlie spring seasons, in rafiing lumber 

61 



2 GALUSHA A. GROW. 

down the Susquelianna River. In 1838 he commenced a course 
of study at Hartford Academy, preparatory to a collegiate edu- 
cation ; and, in 1840, entered the Freshman class at Amherst 
C'Ollege, Massachusetts. From this excellent institution, al- 
though slenderly fitted by his scanty preparatory studies to cope 
M'ith his well drilled New England classmates, he graduated in 
1841, with high honors, and with tlie reputation of being a 
ready debater, and a line extemporaneous speaker. As fre- 
quently happens, however, the assiduity with which he had ap- 
plied himself to his studies had seriously impaired his health ; yet, 
nothing daunted, he plunged earnestly into the study of law, was 
admitted to the bar of Susquehanna County, in the fall of 1847, 
and continued to practice successfully until the spring of 1850, 
when broken health compelled him to leave the office for outdoor 
and more invigorating pur&uits. The following year, therefore, 
was spent in surveying, farming, peeling hemlock bark for tanning 
use, etc., and his enfeebled, frame began soon to show encouraging 
results of such labors. 

In the fall of 1850, he received and declined a unanimous nomi- 
nation for a seat in the StsLte Legislature, tendered by the Dem- 
ocratic County Convention. But, a few months later, while engaged 
with a gang of men in rebuilding a bridge over the Tunkhannock, 
which had been swept away by a freshet, he was informed 
that he had been nominated for Congress, The campaign into 
which he now entered was a most spirited one — the Demo- 
cratic party in his district being divided on the Wilmot proviso, 
the breach had become more fully developed after the pas- 
sage of the compromise measures of 1850. One wing of the 
party renominated Mr. Wilmot, while the other selected James 
Lowrey, Esq., of Tioga County, each candidate canvassing the 
district in person, and their respective friends becoming warmly 
enlisted. The Whig candidate was John C. Adams, a lawyer of 
Bradford County. The district, which then comprised Susquehanna, 
Bradford, and Tioga counties, usually gave a Democratic majority 

62 



GALUSnA A. GROW. 3 

of about two thousand five hundred. Eight da^'s before the elec- 
tion, Wihnot and Lowrej" agreed, after consultation with respective 
friends, to withdraw from the contest, if the Democratic confer- 
ence of tlie district would reassemble and nominate Grow, who 
was then unknown in Tioga County, but had taken a very active 
part in his own county, in tlic presidential elections of 184:4 and 
1848, had been a warm supporter of Wilmot, and was his law part- 
ner for two years. 

The conference composed of both sets of conferees met at 
Wellsboro, Tioga County, the week before the election, and all 
agreed on Grow as a candidate. He was elected by twelve hundred 
and sixty-four majority, and took his seat in December, 1851, the 
youngest member of Congress. 

He continued to represent the district for twelve consecutive 
years, being elected by majorities ranging from eight thousand to 
fourteen thousand, and once by the unanimous vote of the district, 
so that he was often styled " Great Majority Grow." 

With the exception of Wilmot, who was elected six years, no 
representative had ever been elected in the district to exceed four 
years. 

A new Congressional apportionment of the State, in 1861, unite. 
Susquehanna County with Luzerne County, and made tiie district 
Democratic, by which he was defeated in the election of 1862 ; 
since which time he has been engaged in lumbering and his old pur- 
suit of surveying, trying to regain health, which had become very 
feeble when he left Washingfton in the sorino; of ISGo. 

In 1855 he spent six months in Europe, and most of the summer 
of 1857 in the Western Territories. He was one of the victims of 
the National Hotel poisoning, in the winter and spring of 1857, 
from which he has never fully recovered. 

In Congress, the most important committees on which he served 
were the committees on Indian Affairs, Agriculture, and Terri- 
tories. For six years he was on the Committee on Territories, and 
four years its chairman ; embracing all the time of the Kansas 

63 



4 GALUSHAA.GROW. 

troubles ; and so devoted was lie to the interests and aiiairs of Kan- 
sas, that his tellovv-merabers often designated him (good-naturedly) 
as the member from Kansas. 

His twelve years of service extended through a most important 
period of the llepublic : the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, 
election of Banks, Speaker, the Kansas troubles, Lecom.pton Bill, 
the Homestead Bill, the Pacific Railroad, etc., as well as the Fre- 
mont and Lincoln campaigns, etc. 

Mr. Grow's maiden speech in Congress was made on the " Home- 
stead Bill," a measure which he continued to press at every Con- 
gress until its final passage as a law in 1861. Indeed, the persistency 
of his eftbrts for its success, gained for him the appropriate sohri- 
quet of "The Father of the Homestead bill." In the speecli to 
which we allude, delivered March 30, 1852, Mr. Grow remarked : 
" The struggle between capital and labor is an unequal one at best. 
It is a struggle between the bones and sinews of men and dollars and 
cents; and in that struggle it needs no prophet's ken to foretell the 
issue. And in that struggle, is it for this government to stretch forth 
its arm to aid the strong against the weak? Shall it continue, by its 
legislation, to elevate and enrich idleness on the weal and the woe 
of industry ? * * * While the public lands are exposed to 
indiscriminate sale, as they have been since the organization of 
the government, it opens the door to the wildest system of land 
monopoly, one of the direst, deadliest curses that ever paralyzed 
the energies of a nation or palsied the arm of industry. It needs 
no lengthy dissertation to portray its evils. Its history in the Old 
World is written in sighs and tears." * * * "If j-ou would 
raise fallen man from his degradation, and elevate the servile 
from his groveling pursuits to the rights of man, you must first 
place witliin his reach the means for suppljdng his pressing ]>hys!- 
cal wants, so that i-eligion may exert its influence on the sonl, and 
soothe the weary pilgrim in his pathway to tlie tomb. * * * 
If you would make men wiser and better, relieve your almshouses, 
close the doors of your penitentiaries, and break in pieces your 

64 



GALUSHA A. GROW. 5 

gallows, j3iirify the influences of the domestic fireside. For tliut 
is the school in which human character is formed, and there its 
destiny is shaped; there the soul receives its first impres-sions, 
and man his first lesson, and they go with him for weal or for 
woe through life. For puiiiying the sentiments, elevating the 
thoughts, and developing the noblest impulses of man's nature, the 
influences of a moral fireside and agricultural life are the noblest 
and the best. In the obscurity of the cottage, far removed from 
the seductive influences of rank and affluence, are nourished the vir- 
tues that counteract the decay of human institutions, the courage 
that defends the national independence, and the industry that sup- 
ports all classes of the state." 

In all the exciting discussions of public affairs, since 1850, Mr. 
Grow has taken an active and influential part, especially in those 
relating to the extension or perpetuity of slavery. 

Mr. Grow, although educated a Democrat, and his family con 
nections all belonging to that party (but now being Republican), 
has been thoroughly anti-slavery in his convictions and his utter- 
ances, asserting boldly that " slavery, wherever it goes, bea.ra a 
sirocco in front and leaves a desert behind." He resisted with all 
his energies the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and, from the 
date of its consummation, he wholly severed his connection with the 
Democratic party. When, upon the floors of Congress, Southern 
bullies adopted the bludgeon and revolver as their logic, he met 
their insolence with a muscular argument, which proved the sincer- 
ity of his declaration to Keitt, the South Carolinian, that " no nig- 
ger-driver could crack his whip over him." And soon after the 
infamous assault upon Sumner by this same Keitt and his friends, 
Mr. Grow took occasion, in a speech on the admission of Kansas, 
to assert that " tyranny and wrong rule with brute force one of tlio 
Territories of the Union, and violence reigns in the capital of the 
Republic. In the one, mob-law silences with the revolver the voice 
of men pleading for the inalienable rights of man ; in the other, 
the sacred guaranties of the Constitution are violated, and reason 
6 65 



6 GALUSHAA. GROW. 

and free speech are supplanted hy tlie bludgeon ; and, in tlie coun- 
cil chamber of the nation, men stand up to vindicate and justify 
both. Well may the patriot tremble for the future of his country 
when he looks upon this picture and then upon that !" 

In 1859, he was mainly instrumental in defeating the attempt in 
the Senate to increase the rates of postage from three to five and 
ten cents on letters and double the old rates on printed matter. 

On the 4th of July, 1861, Mr. Grow was elected Speaker of the 
House of Representatives, an office which he held during the first 
two years of the war, receiving, at the close of his term, the first 
imanimo us yoie of thanks wliich had been given by that body to 
any Speaker in many years. The eloquent and patriotic words 
which he uttered upon taking the chair of the House, at a time 
when the rebel flag of the new Confederacy was flaunting in the 
very sight of Washington, were made good by the alacrity with 
which— when the mob held possession of Baltimore, severing the 
connection with the North — he seized a musket, and, as a member 
of Clay's brigade, stood " on watch and ward," until the arrival of 
New York Seventh and other troops, via Annapolis, brought safety 
to the capital. He was drafted under the first draft ; and, although 
exempted by the board of examination, as unfit for military duty, 
by reason of his health, he still furnished two substitutes who 
served through the war. 

During the Presidential election of 1868 he was chairman of 
the Republican Central Committee of Pennsylvania. At the 
session of the Legislature of 1869, most of the Republican papers 
of the State zealously urged his election to the Senate of the 
United States, but other influences prevailed. 

For the past year he has been engaged in Philadelphia in the 
mani^facture of a vitreous porcelain, out of a mineral imported 
from Greenland, called kryolith. 

Though absorbed in business, he has lost none of his interest in 
the public questions of the day which afi'ect the rights of men or 
the interests of the laboring classes. 

66 



GALUSHA A. GROW. 7 

At the celebration of the adoption of the Fifteenth Constitutional 
Amendment, at Philadelpiiia, by the colored people of the State, 
he said : — 

"The second great epoch in our history is passed, and we meet on this occasion 
to commemorate the third. The ideas that made the fathers the fanatics of their day 
have been incorporated into organic law, and are stamped in indelible characters upon 
the pillars of the Republic. Tiie Goddess of Liberty can now rear her altars without 
shuddering at the clauk of the chaiu riveted by her professed votaries. Henceforth 
the land of Washington is tlie home of the emigrant and the asylum of the exile of 
every*clime, and of all races of men. We stand on the line that divides the old from 
tlie new; the dispensation of hate, oppression, and wrong from that of liberty and 
right. . . . Grievously the nation sinned, generously it has atoned. God so ordained 
in the retributions of His providences, that for the sighs and tears wrung from the 
bondmen through ages of sorrow, He exacted the sighs and tears of a nation mourning 
its unreturning brave. The wealth coined in the sweat of the laborer's unrequited toil 
He scattered to the winds in the havoc and devastation of war. Will the Republic 
learn from this terrible visitation of anguish and woe that the only sure foundation 
for social peace and national perpetuity is in equal and just laws administered alike for 
the protection of every citizen? Nations live by the practice of justice, and they die 
by injustice and wrong." 

His prediction in the following extract from his closing address, 
4th March, 1863, as Speaker of the Thirty-seventh Congress, has 
been fully verified. 

" Whether the night of our adversity is to be long or short, there can be no doubt of 
the final dawn of a glorious day. For such is the physical geogi'apiiy of the continent 
that there can be, between the Gulf and the Lakes, but one nationality. No matter what 
changes maj' be wrought in its social organization, its territorial limits will continue 
the same. The traditions of tlie past, and the hopes of the future, have crystallized in 
the American heart the fixed resolve of one union, one coimiry, and one de.stiny. And 
no human power can change that destiny any more than it can stay tlie tide of the 
'father of waters,' as it rolls from the mountains to the sea. 

"If the people between the Gulf and the Lakes can not live together in peace as 
one nation, they certainly can not as two. This war then, though it cost countless 
lives and untold treasure, must, in the nature of things, be prosecuted till the last 
armed rebel is subdued, and the flag of our fathers is respected on every foot of Ameri- 
can soil." 

Mr. G row's public career, as will be seen, has been prominently 
marked by his persistent advocacy of free homesteads, free ten itory, 
human freedom, cheap postage, and, indeed, every measure by which 
the people were to be made wiser, purer, or happier. It is a record 
of which every public man may well be proud ; a record peculiarly 

67 



8 GALUSIIAA. GKOW. 

befitting one who, bronglit up a farmer's boy, has never forgotten 
or hesitated to acknowledge the interests which the working-men of 
the Republic have upon his services. Though young in years, and 
far from robust in health, and with no adventitious aid from 
wealth or family influence, he has already achieved a national 
reputation. 

His long public career as a politician has been marked by a 
straightforwardness and fidelity which excite the admiration of the 
people. It has been marred by no wavering, no eccentricities, no 
lapses from the path of principle, but he has carried the flag of the 
party and the country, undismayed, through battle, through defeat, 
and victory, relying upon the immutability and truth of the cause, 
■with 

" Not a star tarnished, not a stripe polluted." 

Vigorous outdoor exercise during the past six years has tended 
greatly to re-establish his health, and may, we sincerely hope, fit him 
for a still more extended career of public influence and usefulness 

68 




HOK EDWIN D. MOEGA:^. 

BY J. ALEXANDER PATTEN. 

f HE name of Edwin D. Morgan lias a national renown. 
Throughout our vast country his eminent services in mu- 
nicipal, State, and National offices have obtained for Lim 
universal public praise. Honest and patriotic, intelligent and elE- 
cient, he has displayed those qualities which are at once the highest 
in manhood and in official station. 

Edwin D. Morgan, eighteenth governor of New York, and late 
senator of the United States, was born in the town of Washington 
Massachusetts, February 8, 1811. He attended the public schools 
of that section until he was twelve years of age, when his father 
removed to Windsor, Connecticut, where he was a pupil of the high 
school, and subsequently a student in the Bacon Academy at Col- 
chester. He was a boy of remarkable enerfrv and intellicrence 
When the family removed to Windsor, a distance of some fifty miles, 
young Edwin drove an ox-team, loaded with the household effects, 
performing a large share of the journey on foot. Having reached the 
nge of seventeen he went to Hartford, where he became a clerk in 
the wholesale grocery and commission house of his uncle. This was 
a great step for him. Filled with bright anticipations of a success- 
ful future, to be gained by integrity and industry, he devoted him- 
self to his duties with great zeal. He mastered the details of the bus- 
iness with surprising ease, and showed a tact and penetration in 
bargaining that proved him to have rare capacity for business. At the 
end of three years his uncle admitted him to a partnership, and he 
remained in Hartford some five years longer, carefully accumulating 
a capital. In 1836 he came to the city of New York to reside, and 
cstablislied himself in the same kind of trade. His capital was not 

69 



2 EDWIN D. MORGAN. 

more than a few thousand dollars, and in the infancy of his busineps 
he was obliged to pass through the terrible financial crisis of 1837, 
which he did successfully. The house then established is still in 
prosperous business, after a period of more than thirty years. 

Mr. Morgan was a most intelligent and high-toned representative 
of the mercantile character. He gave dignity to all the transac- 
tions of the mart and the counting-room. No man of his day had 
more judgment, foresight, or nerve. He devoted thought and energy 
to his pursuit, and embarked in ventures before unattempted. 
Something of his disposition in business mutters is shown in an 
anecdote which is related of him. He was engaged in a great sugar 
speculation, and went to Louisiana to buy the article. A rival was 
there doing the same thing. One evening Mr. Morgan approached 
the house of a planter, and found dancing and merriment going on. 
When the planter appeared, he invited Mr. Morgan to enter, and 
partake of his hospitality in company with another guest, already 
present, whose name was mentioned. This guest was Mr. Morgan's 
rival, and he knew that his errand was to buy the crop of the planter. 
Under these circumstances, Mr. Morgan declined the invitation, but 
at once entered into a negotiation for the crop of sugar, which he 
bought, and rode on. Next morning when the rival opened business 
he learned, to his astonishment, that the entire crop had been pur- 
chased the evening before by Mr. Morgan. 

His whole business career was characterized by an enterprise 
which was both bold and successful. His transactions at home and 
in foreign markets were on the most extensive scale, and the integ- 
rity and soundness of his house were beyond all question. He gave 
his influence and pecuniary aid to the railroads of the country. He 
was an early friend of the Hudson Kiver Railroad, and at one time 
the president of the company. 

As early as 1840 he began to give attention to public affaii*8. 
While there was a Whig party he labored with untiring assiduity for 
its success, and on the organization of the Republican party became 
one of its leaders. At the Republican National Convention held Hi 

70 



EDWIN D. MORGAN. g 

Pittsburgh, in 1856, he acted as vice-president and was there made 
Chairman of the National Committee. In that capacity he opened 
the convention at Philadelphia, in 1856, that nominated Fremont; 
tliat at Chicago in 1860, which nominated Lincoln ; and also that at 
Baltimore, which re-nominated Mr. Lincoln. In 1866 he was made 
chairman of the Union Congressional Committee. It is needless to 
say that in all of these positions and duties he exhibited a dignity 
and efficiency that gave great satisfaction to his party. 

Going back to 1849, we find Mr. Morgan a member of the Board 
of Assistant Aldermen in New York, of which he was chosen presi- 
dent. During the prevalence of the Asiatic cholera at that period 
he served on the Sanitarj' Committee, and won the everlasting grat- 
itude of the people by his courageous and persevering services in 
behalf of the public health. Subsequently he was twice elected 
from the Sixth Senatorial District to a seat in the Senate, where he 
was placed at the head of the Standing Committee on Finance. At 
the regular session of 1851, and at the extra meeting of that summer 
he was made president jyro tempore of the Senate. In 1852 the 
Democratic party had gained cotitrol of the Senate, but Mr. Mor- 
gan was unanimously chosen again as its temporary president, and 
also, for the fourth time, in the following year. He held the office 
of a commissioner of emigration from 1855 to 1858, when he was 
elected governor. He served two terms as governor, and at his 
election in 1860 received the largest majority ever given for this 
office in the State of New York. 

The administration of puljlic affairs by Governor Morgan was 
enlightened and comprehensive in the highest degree. State credit, 
canal enlargement, defenses of the harbor of New York, and finally 
the duty of filling the quota of the State in a prolonged and bloody 
war, were all matters which fell to his executive care. All were 
managed with signal ability and success. His messages showed a 
clear and searching insight into the affairs of the State, and his 
recomendations were always judicious and practical. At the end 
of his terra of office he had sent no less than 320,000 men into the 

n 



4' EDWIN D. MORGAN. 

iield, being more than a fifth part of all that had vet entered the 
service. In addition to these the State militia were on tliree sev- 
eral occasions, dispatched to Washington to answer emergencies. 
"When he left his office, New York stood credited with an excess 
over all quotas. The aggregate sum expended in bounties under 
the direction of Governor Morgan was $8,500,000, which the Leg- 
islature at its next session, acting on the recorainandation of Gov- 
ernor Seymour, lost no time in legalizing. Tlie tlianks of the Pres- 
ident and the Secretary of "War were frequently tendered to Gov- 
ernor Morgan, for his promptness and efficiency in responding to 
the wants of the government. As an expression of the President's 
sense of these important services, and to secure other jjractical ad- 
vantages, in September, 1861, Governor Morgan was appointed a 
major-general of volunteers, and the State has erected a military 
department under his command. He made contracts in behalf of 
the general government for rations, clotliing, arms, and ordnance to 
the extent of many millions of dollars, whicli were all a])proved. 

In all his public duties and obligations Governor Morgan had 
the public good solely in view. Charged with the manifold and 
momentous interests of a great State, he devoted to them his whole 
intelligence and energy. 

As the time for tlie election of a United States senator drew 
near, Governor Morgan became a prominent candidate. In Feb- 
ruary, 1S61, he was elected for the term of six years, to succeed 
Preston King. He took his seat at the called session of March of 
that year, and has served on the Committees on Commerce, Finance, 
the Pacific Eailroad ; as chairman of the Joint Committee on the 
Library, on Manufactures, Military Affairs, Mines and Mining, and 
on Printing. In February, 1865, on the retirement of Mr. Fessen- 
den, he was asked by Mr. Lincoln to accept the position of Secre- 
tary of the Treasury, which he declined. His career in the Senate 
was marked by the same dignity and purity of action that had 
characterized him in all other public stations. Leaving to others 
the oratorical displays, he confined himself to the severe duties of 

72 



EDWIN D. MORGAN. 5 

the committees, and to a rule of being in his seat to vote on all 
im.p<^^rtant measures. No senator exercised a wider influence among 
his associates of both parties, or commanded more public respect. 

In July, 1867, Williams College, which is located in Mr. Morgan's 
native county of Berkshire, Massachusetts, conferred upon him the 
degree of LL. D. As an earnest friend of the learned institutions 
of the country, and a statesman of tried ability and virtues, this 
was an act that gave not less honor to the institution than to Mr. 
Morgan. 

He is a man of massive frame and tall stature. Erect, self-pos- 
sessed, and courtly, he has a most dignified and impressive pres- 
ence. His head is of a size in proportion to his large body, and the 
fine intellectual face has every feature prominent and noble. The 
brow is full and high, the nose and mouth are prominent and 
expressive. The eyes, though not by any means small, are deep set 
beneath the overhanging forehead. His face shows the amiable, 
virtuous character, and at the same time a fixedness of purpose and 
courage. Neither his manners nor conversation partake of an}' 
thing like conceit of opinion or position. But there is an elevation 
in the one and a decision in the tone of the other, that never fail to 
produce an impression. A man of splendid fortune and of the 
highest social station, he is not an aristocrat in his feelings or actions, 
but he always maintains the dignity properly belonging to the 
refined and exalted life. 

Our country has produced no man superior to Edwin D. Morgan 
in varied and useful talents for the walks of commerce and public 
duty. With the most insignificant advantages in youth, he has 
achieved business success and T>ational fame. Never untrue to 
principle, never faithless to friends or obligations, he stands in his 
private and public career an example to his own and all coming 

times. 

73 



GEOEGE W. CHILDS. 

BY JAMES PARTOX. 

5^/!^ YOUNG man entering now upon a career of business may 
nSc^ well be discouraged at times when lie considers the little 

'^'=-*» chance he has of ever attaining a place among the masters 
and possessors of the world. A business establishment must now 
be immense or nothing. It must absorb or be absorbed. It must 
either be a great, resistless maelstrom of business, drawing countless 
wrecks into its vortex, or it must be itself a wreck, and contribute 
its quota to the all-engulfing prosperity of a rival. 

This is the law of modern business, against which it were idle 
to declaim. It is one of the results of man's reducing to subjection 
the mighty power of steam, by which he must first be enabled, and 
then compelled, to transact all his affairs on the great scale. I^or 
ought we to regret the change ; for, although the period of transition 
is one of loss and disaster to many, yet the result, I firmly believe, 
will be a universal advance in all that constitutes civilization. No 
man likes to see his business absorbed into the giant establishment 
of his neighbor. No cobbler relishes being swallowed up into a 
great manufactory of shoes ; and no wayside blacksmith welcomes 
the invention which now turns out, in a single factory, a million 
horseshoes a week, better made and cheaper than the most dexter- 
ous of human hands could produce them. But, suppose the rev^olu- 
tion complete; imagine the time when all the world's M'ork shall 
be done in establishments which vmst be well-ordered and ably- 
conducted, merely heoause they are immense ; when every man, 
instead of aiming to be the chief of a petty shop, subject to all the 
narrowing influences of its smallness and uncertainty, shall be a 
member of a concern which by its very vastness shall dignify all 
that belong to it, and which will, by its stability, afford that safe f<;ot- 

75 



2 GEORGE W. CHILDS. 

liold in the world wliich a small business rarely can ! I see glorious 
promise for tlie future of our race in that irresistible tendency, 
which so many deplore, that is creating everywliere businesses of 
enormous proportions. The proprietors of them will be expanded 
and elevated by the largeness of their transactions, and they will 
be compelled to employ, encourage, and justly compensate every 
grade of talent. They must do this. It will be no affair of senti- 
ment and generosit3\ That concern will everywhere be strongest 
which will know best how to attract and retain men of ability. 

Nevertheless, we can blame no young man if he looks back with 
regret to the time when Franklin could suppose that a capital of 
two hundred dollars was sufficient to set a mechanic up in business. 
Modern establishments certainly do look discouragingly vast to 
young ambition. A youth who begins life in a store like Stewart's, 
of New York, which is exactly two hundred times as extensive as 
the ordinary dry-goods store of former days, and which expends 
more money in a day than Ids salary would amount to in a centui-y, 
may well stand confounded when he considers the obstacles in the 
wa}' of his attaining mastership. But if steam is mighty, man is 
mortal. These great concerns are controlled by men who grow 
old, who withdraw, who must one day resign the reins to younger 
men ; and in them all there is going on a process of sifting out from 
the mass of persons employed the few who will at length govern 
departments, and the onk who will finally bear sway over the 
whole. Under the regime of the steam-engine, as in the times pre- 
ceding it, the rule still holds good that a man usually gets into as 
high a place as he is really tit for, and rises about as fast as it is 
safe he should. Providence being a good economist, first-rate men 
do not long continue in second-rate phices. 

Tliese familiar truths are strikingly illustrated in the career of 
Mi. Childs, the proprietor of the most important and lucrative news- 
paper of Philadelphia, one of those rooted newspapers which grow 
with the gi'owth of their city, and which seem capable of declining 
onlv with its decline. 

76 



GEORGE W. CHILDS. 3 

Twenty-five years ago, when I was a resident of Pliihidelphia, 
tliere was one spot of that sedate and tranqnil eity which seemed 
like home; for it exhibited the vitality which New Yorkers ai'o 
accustomed to witness on every hand. This was the corner of 
Third and Chestnut streets, where was published \\\^ Piiblic Ledger^ 
and where there was also the most flourishing depot of newspapers 
and cheap publications then existing in the city. It was always 
exhilarating to ]>nss that corner; sueli was the bustle and bright 
display of the fugitive wares of literature. The Ledger then seemed 
as firmly established in the habits and confidence of the people as 
a newspaper could be, and it was still owned by the three able men 
who had founded it many years before. The Ledger building was 
solid, tall, and imposing, and the ofiice wore that air of immutable 
prosperity which old banks and old newspaper establishments alone 
possess. 

It had begun in the quiet way in which things of lasting import- 
ance usually do; and it had had that tough struggle for life which 
the strong never escape. On half a sheet of paper three journeymen 
printers from New York had drawn up, in 1836, their articles of 
partnership, had hired a small office, bought a hand-press, engaged 
an editor, and launched their enterprise — a penny paper — a novelty 
then in Philadelphia. They would have failed if they had been 
cowards, for they had not the capital to wait long for success. 
Luckily for them, questions arc»se which gave them the chance of 
risking destruction by doing right. They did right; they took the 
side of law against influential mobs. When the medical students — 
a numerous brotherhood in Philadelphia — were disorderly, the little 
Ledger defied and rebuked them. When the Irish were hunted 
down by Native Americans, and Catholic churches were burned 
by rioters, the L^edger courted odium by denouncing lawless vio- 
lence, and nearly incurred ruin. When the abolitionists were 
mobbed, the Ledger^ though its corps of proprietors and editors 
disapproved their proceedings, defended their right to assemble 
and discuss public questions. 

77 



4 GEORGE W. CHILDS. 

Such conduct as this makes a newspaper strike down its roots 
deep in the gratitude and esteem of tlie stable and the subscribing 
portion of the public. A newspaper gains by daring to lose. It 
never does so well for itself as when it gives wide-spread offense by 
being right a month before its readers. 

In 1848, when the Ledger had been in existence twelve years, it 
had grown past the perils of its youth, and yielded to its proprietors 
incomes ample and secure. They were still in the prime of life, 
and with powers strengthened by use and success ; nor were there 
wanting in the establishment men of mature and tried abilitj', who 
might be supposed capable of taking their places when age should 
have disposed them to withdraw. At that very time the future 
master of tlie Ledger worked in a portion of the Ledger building. 
He was not its chief editor. He was not foreman, book-keeper, or 
confidential factotum. He was not in the line of promotion at all. 
If any one had been asked to go over the edifice and name the 
person employed in it who was most likely to succeed to the pro- 
prietorship, he would not have so much as taken into consideration 
the chances of a youth, named Childs, who occupied a small office 
in the building. I should have passed him by as a person totally 
out of the question. And yet he, the almost unknown lad of 
eighteen, without capitaled friends or connections, with nothing to 
aid him but his own brain, hands, and habits — he, George W. 
Childs, was the predestined person ! The editor, who was a forci- 
ble and fluent writer, attempted mastership and fjiiled. Other 
leading men in the building tried for the same prize, but with no 
memorable success. That boy was the man ! He was the born 
master. He was the heir, though not the heir-apparent. And, 
what was still more remarkable, he had already distinctly set before 
himself, as an object to be accomplished, the proprietorship of the 
Ledger establishment. He had said to himself: " Lwill own all tJiis 
some day f'' 

It was not the random utterance of a light-hearted boy. He 
meant it. It was his deliberate purpose ; and he had grounds, even 

78 



GEORGEW.CHILDS. 5 

in his boyish successes, for believing in its fufinineut. In they:ars 
that followed, he made no secret of his intention ; but often said to 
his intimate friends, '' If I live, I will become the owner of the Puh- 
I'iG Ledger^'' He said so to Dr. R. Shelton Mackenzie, nine years 
before he accomplished his pni-pose, and at a time when there 
seemed no likelihood of its ever being for sale, or of his possessing 
tlie means of buying it. The audacity of such a thought in a boy 
of eighteen can hardly be appreciated by any one wlio was not 
familiar with Philadelphia at the time, and Avith the solid basis of 
prosperity upon which the Ledger stood. It was as though a poor 
boy who had struggled to London from a distant town, and 
obtained some obscure employment about Printing House Square, 
should quietly say to himself: ''I will one day own the London 
T ivies ! " 

The lad was a stranger in Philadelphia, recently arrived from 
Baltimore, his native city. His early friends in Baltimore do not 
depict him as in the least resembling the ideal boy of modern 
novels — the Tom Browns, who put forth their whole soul in foot- 
ball and cricket, and bestow the reluctant residue upon the serious 
business of school. With sincere deference to our honored guest, 
Mr. Thomas Hughes, I must beg leave to state, that superior men, 
who learn to govern themselves and direct affairs do not spend 
their boyhood so. Not in the Rugby style do the Jeffersons, 
Franklins, Pitts, Peels, Watts, nor the great men of business, nor 
the immortals of literature and art, pass the priceless hours of 
boyhood and youth. Such boys do not despise the oar and the 
bat, but they do not exalt the sports of the playground to the 
chief place in their regard. This boy certainly did not. He 
exhibited, even as a child, two traits seldom found in the same 
individual: a remarkable aptitude for business, and a remarkable 
liberality in giving away the results of his boyish trading. At 
school he was often bartering boyish treasures— knives for pigeons, 
marbles for pop-guns, a bird-cage for a book ; and he displayed an 
intuitive knack in getting a good bargain by buying and selling at 

79 



$ GEOUGE W. CniLDS. 

tliG right moment. At .v very early age, he had a sense of the value 
of time, and a strong inclination to become a self-supporting indi- 
vidual. He has told his friends that, in his tenth year, when s{'h(,K)l 
was dismissed for the summer, he took the place of errand-boy in a 
bookstore, and spent the vacation in hard work. This was not 
romantio, but it was highly honoi'able to a little fellow to be 
willing thus to work for the treasures that boys desire. At tliii"- 
teen, he entered the United States Navy, and spent fifteen montlis 
in the service; an experience and discipline not without good results 
upon his health and character. 

He was a favorite among his boyish friends. One of them, Hon. 
J. J. Stewart, of Maryland, has recently said : "He was then what 
you find him now. His heart was always larger than his raenn^*. 
There is but one thing he ahvays despised, and that is meanness- ; 
there is but one character he hates, and that is a liar. "Wlicn 
he left Baltimore, a little boy, the affectionate regrets of all hit? 
companions followed him to Philadelphia ; and the attachment 
they felt for him was more like romance than reality in this every- 
day world. ... I remember that he wrote to me years ago, 
when we were both boys, that he meant to prove that a man oovid 
he libei'al and successful at the same timeP 

Let us see if the career of the man has fulfilled the dream of the 
boy. 

Upon reaching Philadelphia, a vigorous lad of fourteen, he knew 
but one family in the city, and they, soon removing, left him friend- 
less there. He found employment in his old vocation of sho|)-boy 
in a bookstore. But he was no longer a boy. Experience had 
given him an early maturity of mind and character, and he was soon 
discharging the duties of a man. Paying strict attention to busi- 
ness, working early and late for his employer, disdaining no honest 
service, he soon had an opportunity, young a.s he was, of showing 
that he possessed the rarest faculty of a business man — -judfjuiDif. 
After shutting up the store in tlie evening, he was intrusted by hii' 
emph)yer with the dnty of frequenting the book auctions an<l 

80 



GEORGE W. CHILDS. 7 

inaking purchases ; and by the time he \vas sixteen, it was he wlio 
was reguhxrly deputed to attend the book trade-sales at New York 
and Boston. After serving in this capacity for four years, being 
then eighteen years of age, having saved a few hundred dollars 
capital, and accumulated a much larger capital in character, in 
knowledge of business, and in the confidence of business men, he 
liired a small" slice of the Ledger building, and set up in business 
for himself. Already he felt that his mission was to conduct a 
great daily paper; already, as before remarked, he had said to 
hin)self, that paper shall be the PuUic Ledger. 

In his narrow slip of a store in the Ledger building, he be- 
stirred himself mightily, and throve apace. Faculty is always in 
demand; and I say again, a young man generally gets a step for- 
ward in his career about as soon as he is able to hold it. Be- 
fore he was quite twenty-one, we find him a member of that 
publishing firm which afterward obtained so much celebrity and 
success under the title of Childs & Peterson. The intelligent 
head of the old firm of R. E. Petei'son (k Co. had the discernment 
to see his capacity, and sought an alliance with him. It was a 
strong firm ; for the talent it contained was at once great and 
various. Mr. Peterson and his family had considerable knowledge 
of science and literature, and Mr. Childs possessed that sure 
intuitive judgment of the public taste and the public needs without 
which no man can succeed as a publisher. He had, also, that 
strong confidence in his own judgment, wdiich gave him courage to 
risk vast amounts of capital, and even the solvency of the firm, 
upon enterprises at which many a more experienced publisher 
would have shaken his head. 

There is no business so diSicult as that of publishing books. Few 
succeed in it, and still fewer attain a success at all commensurate 
with the energy and risk which it demands. The very knowledge 
and taste which a publisher may possess arc more likely to mis- 
lead than to guide him aright ; and, accordingly, we find that some 
of the greatest publishing houses in every country, are conducted 
6 81 



8 GEORGE W. CHI LD3 

by grossly ignorant men, who never read the books they pnblisli, 
and who consider nothing but the reputation of authors, or tblh)\y 
implicitly the judgment of experienced readers. Such persons are 
never led astray by tastes of their own. They never think the 
public will like u book because tliey happen to like it, or suppose 
the public interested in a subject because it is interesting to thein. 
There are publishers, however, whose tastes and preferences are 
in ?uch harmony with tliose of the public, that their own personal 
approval of a book is a sufficient guide. In the firm of Childs <k 
Peterson, there was much of both kinds of judgment — that which 
comes of general knowledge, and that which results from a 
knowledge of the world. Consequently, nearly all of its ventures 
were successful. They published few books, but they frequently 
contrived to make a great hit once a year. Mr. Peterson com- 
piled a work from various sources, called " Familiar Science," 
which Mr. Childs' energy and tact pushed to a sale of two hun- 
dred thousand copies, secured for it a footing in many schools, 
which it retains to this day. We all remember with what skill 
and persistence Mr. Childs trumpeted the brilliant works of Dr. 
Kane upon " Arctic Exploration," and how he made us all buy 
the volumes as they appeared at live dollars, and how glad wc 
were we had bought them when we came to read them. Nor was 
Dr. Kane ill pleased to receive a copyright of about seventy 
thousand dollars. Parson Biownlow's book was one of Mr. 
Childs' successes. It was not his fault that the book turned out 
to be absolute trash. He could not foresee that. Before a copy of 
the work existed, he had so provoked public curiosity, that it sold 
to the extent of lifty thousand copies. He had the pleasure of 
handing over to the patriotic author the handsome copyright of 
fifteen thousand dollars. 

Mr. Childs, either by himself, or in connection with partnoi's, 
was a publisher of books for a dozen years or more ; during which 
he gave the public several works of high utility, involving an 
outlay such as few young publishers have ever been in a condition 

82 



GEORGE W. CHILDS 9 

to undertake. Xo publisher's list lias ever contained less of the 
eensational — Mr. Brownlow's book being his only venture of that 
kind, and that was an accident of an exceptional period. Among 
the massively useful books bearing his imprint, there is that truly 
extraordinary enterprise, "Dr. Allibone's Dictionary of English 
and American Authors," which is dedicated to Mr. Childs. It is 
questionable if there has ever been produced by one man a book 
involving a greater amount of labor, or one containing a smaller 
proportion of errors, than this colossal dictionary. Often as I have ' 
had occasion to use it, I have never done so without a new sense of 
its wonderful character. Probably when Mr. Childs undertook its 
publication, there was hardly another publishing house in the world 
that would have given the laborious author any encouragement ; 
and it is safe to add that, but for the outbreak of the war, he would 
have pushed it to a compensating sale. Other costly works pub- 
lished by Mr. Childs are " Bouvier's Law Dictionary," "Bouvier's 
Institutes of American Law," " Sharswood's Blackstone," " Fletch- 
er's Brazil,'' and '* Lossing's Illustrated History of the Civil War." 

But it is not a detail of his particular enterprises that is required 
in a brief sketch like this. It is important to know in what spirit 
and manner he has conducted these extensive affairs, and what are 
the real causes of his success in them. 

His career has not been all triumph ; nor can he, any more than 
other men, justly claim that his success is due to his unassisted 
powers. The strongest man needs the aid of his fellows, and he 
is the strongest man who knows best how to win and deserve that 
assistance. Such a man as Mr. Childs makes friends. It belongs 
to his hearty, hopeful, and generous nature to inspire regard in 
kindred minds ; and even minds that have little in common with 
his own, love to bask in the sunshine of his influence. It so 
chanced that among the friends who were drawn to him, early in 
his Philadelphia career, was the celebrated banker, Mr, Anthony J. 
Drexel, a gentleman whose name in the metropolis of Pennsylvar 
nia is suggestive of every thing honorable, liberal, and public- 

83 



10 GEORGE "W. CHILDS. 

spirited. Mr. Cliilds is proud to acknowledge that, at manv ? 
crisis in his life, Mr. Drexel's sympathy and ever-ready help have 
heen a tower of strength to him. They have usually been side by 
side at the tnrning-points in Mr. Cliilds' career the capitalist being 
always prompt to lend the support of his credit and wealth to the 
execution of Mr. Childs' well-considered schemes. 

In the long run, however, a man stands upon his own individual 
•merits. No external aid can long avail if there are radic^al defi- 
ciencies in his own character. It is his own indomitable heart and 
will that carry every man forward to final victory. " There have 
been times in my business career," Mr. Childs once said, " when 
every thing looked discouraging, and many would have given up in 
despair; but I always worked the harder, and never lost hope." 

He was sure to remember a kindness, and was never backward 
in reciprocating it. It has been a principle with him in business, 
not to be blind to all interests but his own, and he has endeavored 
to act in the spirit of the old maxim : " Live and let live." " I 
have never been aggressive," he sometimes says, *' but I am very 
determined in self-defense." While he has refrained from all 
operations foreign to his own business, he has given his whole mind 
,to that ; shrinking from no labor which its exigencies required, 
and never considering that any thing was done while any thing 
remained to do. He thinks that many who started witli him in 
the race have failed to reach any valuable success, merely from not 
.giving their whole attention to their business, unwilling to defer 
tlie enjoyment of life until they had earned the right to enjoy. 
"Meanness," says Mr. Childs, "is not necessary to success in 
.business, but economy /.s." He has been an economist, not only of 
money, but of his health, his strength, his vital force, the energy 
and purity of his brain. It has been his happiness to escape those 
habits which lower the tone of the bodily health and impair the 
efficiency of the mind— such as smoking and drinking — which, at 
ihis moment, lessen the efficient energies of civilized man by, per- 
haps, one-half! He tells the young men about him that Franklin's 

84 



GEORGE W. GUILDS. H 

fiile for success in business is about the best that can be given — 
simple as it is. It consists of three words : " Temperance, industry, 
and frugality." 

During his career as a publisher of books, he never lost sight of 
his favorite object, the control of a leading daily newspaper. The 
time came when he could gratify his ambition. 

The Puhlic Ledgerhad. fallen upon evil days. Started as a penny 
paper in 1836, the proprietors had been able to keep it at that price, 
for a quarter of a centurj'. But the w^ar, by doubling the cost of 
material and labor, had rendered it impossible to continue the paper 
at the original price except at a loss. The proprietors w^ere men- 
naturally averse to change. They clung to the penny feature of. 
their system too long, believing it vital to the prosperity of the 
Ledger. They were both right and wrong. Cheapness was vital : 
but in 1864: a cent for such a sheet as the PuIjUg Ledger was not a 
price at all; it was giving it half away. Retaining the original 
price w^as carrying a good principle to that extreme which endan- 
gered the principle itself; just as we are now putting in peril the 
principle of cheap go\ernment by condemning important servants 
of the people — ^judges, mayors, governors, presidents, cabinet min- 
isters, and heads of bureaus — to pinching and precarious penury. 
Xor were the proprietors then in a condition to superintend a 
radical change. One of them w as dead. Another was absorbed 
in the management of another enterprise ; and the third was 
indifferent. This firm, once so capable and vigorous, had outlived 
its opportunity, and the Puhlic L^edger was for sale. 

The establishment was then losing four hundred and eighty 
dollars upon every number of the paper whicli it issued. This 
was not generally known ; the paper looked as prosperous as ever ; 
its circulation was irniiiense, and its columns were crowded with 
advertisements. And yet tho'/e was a weekly loss of three thousand 
dollars — a hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year. Upon learn- 
ing this fact, the friends of Mr. Chihls, whose opinion he sought, 
eaid with decision: don't buy! Nevertheless, he looked the 

85 



12 GEORGE W. CHI LD3. 

ground carefully over ; he made minute calculations ; he kept on 
his thinking cap day and evening. lie bought the Public Ledger — 
the whole of it, just as it stood — for a sum a little exceeding the 
amount of its annual loss. 

The purchase was completed December 5, 1864. A week after, 
the new proprietor announced the two simple and obviously just 
changes that were necessary to the prolonged existence of the 
paper. He doubled its price and increased the advertising rates 
to the compensating point. The first shock to the establishment 
was severe : subscribers fell off, and the columns were lightened in 
some degree of their burden of advertisements. But a daily news- 
j)aper of any great importance is to large classes of people a 
necessity; and the PuUic Ledge f was eminently sucli, for it had 
been for twenty years the established medium of communication 
between employers and employed, between buyers and sellers, be- 
tween bereaved families and their friends, and between landlords 
and tenants. The subscribers, too, comprehended the reasonable- 
ness of the chano;e, and Mr. Childs was not the man to neiirlect the 
jneans of bringing it home to their minds. He knows the power 
of advertising, and how to use that power. In a few days tlie tide 
turned. At the end of a month he made a concession of which no 
one who does not know Philadelphia intimately can understand the 
importance : he reduced the paper from two cents a day to ten cents 
a week. What a trifling matter this seems to us lavish New 
Yorkers 1 But Philadelphia — leaving out a few hundred very rich 
people, who are the same everywhere — is com2>osed of a prodigious 
number of highly respectable families, whose means are limited, 
and to whom severe economy is a thing of conscience, necessity, 
and life-long habit. Not because they earn less than the inhabit- 
ants of other cities, but because they are ambitious for their chil- 
dren, and because it is the custom of the place for all but the very 
poorest people to live with a certain decent and orderly respect- 
ability, incompatible with waste. Poverty is not regarded there as 
an excuse for squalor and dirt. Hence, the change in the cost of 

86 



GEORGE W. CHILDS. 13 

Jhe Ledger — the sole luxury to many virtuous faniilies — was really 
au important stroke of policy, which restored the paper to more 
than its former ascendency. 

Behold, then, Mr. Childs at length in the enjoyment of the 
position upon which he had lixed his hopes sixteen years before ! 
He assumed, at once, personal control of the paper, both as a busi- 
ness and as a vehicle of communication with the public mind. For 
four years he rarely left the editorial rooms before midnight. Him- 
self a man of the people, in full sympathy with the peoi>lc, he lias 
conducted the paper in the interests of the people ; and yet there is 
no paper in the world, the tone of which is more uniformly unsen- 
satloiial than that of the PahliG Ledger of Philadelphia. There is 
a certain sincerity in the editorials which contrasts most pleasingly 
with the mockery, the chaff, the hypocrisy, and the cowardly in- 
directness, which are such hideous characteristics of some of the 
newspapers of New York. Mr. Childs evidently feels that a lie is 
a lie, that an insult is an insult, and that a calumny is a calumny, 
whether it be spoken or printed ; and he does not consider that it 
is less atrocious to inflict a stab at midnight from the safe seclusion 
of an editorial room, than to take an assassin into pay for a similar 
purpose. It is an honest, clean, industriously edited paper — an 
honor to journalism, to Philadelphia, and to its proprietor. Noth- 
ing is admitted to its columns, not even an advertisement, which 
ought not to be read in a well-ordered household. The adoption of 
this rule by Mr. Childs excluded from the paper a class of adver- 
tisements which yielded a revenue of three hundred dollars a week. 

The people of Philadelphia have responded to his efforts with a 
liberality which has enabled him to serve them better and better. 
A new Ledger building, ample in proportions, and furnished with 
elegant completeness, now adorns the cit}', and invites the approval 
of visitors. Tiie public seems sometimes to bestow its favors ca- 
priciously — as if indifferent to the worth or worthlessness of those 
competing for its suffrages. In this instance, the people of Phila- 
delphia have rallied warmly to the support of a man whose ambition 

87 



X4 GEORGE W. CHILDS. 

and constant endeavor Iiave been to render tliein solid and lastino; 
service. No one can patiently examine a few numbers of the 
Public Ledger without perceiving that, in every department of the 
paper, there is an honest effort to give the reader the most and the 
best that can be put into the space assigned. It is gratifying to 
know that a newspaper conducted in this spirit is one of the most 
profitable in the country. 

Mr. Childs, now in the enjoyment of a princely income, honors 
himself by his constant consideration of the comfort, pleasure, wel- 
fare, and dignity of the persons who assist him. He has provided 
for them apartments to work in as handsome and commodious as 
the nature of their employment admits, and the building abounds in 
Buch conveniences as bath-rooms and ice-fountains. He takes 
pleasure in compensating faithful service liberally, and loves to see 
liappiness and prosperity around him. lie has presented his assist- 
ants recently with insurances upon their lives, and has given to the 
Typographical Society an elegant improved lot in Woodlands Ceni- 
etery, besides contributing liberally to the Society's endowment. 
Care was taken, in furnishing the compositors' room, to give the 
walls and ceiling the subdued tone most agreeable to the over- 
tasked eyes of tlie compositors. On days of festivity, such as the 
Fourth of July and Christmas, Mr. Cliilds is accustomed to ])rovide 
for those in his employment and their families an entertainment of 
some kind, in which all can participate — llie happy effects of wliich 
t^hine in their countenances and animate their minds for many a 
day after. In a word, his is a generous heart, and finds lia])piness 
in difi'using ha])piness, and loves to make all around and about him 
sharers in his prosperity. 

How much nobler is this than to scrimp and screw for fifty 3'ears, 
blasting all the life within range by a cold, grudging spirit, and 
then leave behind, as a heavy burden upon })osterity, a huge mass 
of property, which the owner parts with only because he can not 
carry it with him ! Posterity will have care and perplexity enough 
without being saddled with crude, injudicious bequests. But nearly 



GEOEGEW.CniLDS. ' 15 

tlie whole eflicient population of tlio globe sustains the relation of 
employer and employed ; and as far as we can discern, this is an 
unchangeable necessity of human life. Hence we may say, that the 
welfare and dignity of man depend upon the degree to which the 
duties involved in this relation are understood and performed. A 
man in the position of Mr. Childs can, if he will, render the lives of 
many of those who serve him bitter and shameful ; he can discour- 
age them by a hard, pitiless demeanor ; he can corrupt them by a 
bad example; he can wound them by unjust- reproaches ; he can 
weaken them by excessive indulgence ; he can keep them anxious 
by his caprice ; he can foster ill-will, and relax honest effort by 
favoritism ; or, he can simply hold aloof, and regard his assistants 
merely as part of the ajiparatus of his business. Mr. Childs, on the 
contrar}^, chooses to be the friend and benefactor of those who labor 
with him ; and as he has himself labored faithfully in every post, 
from errand boy to chief, he knows where and how to apply the 
balm that solaces the hearts of the toiling sons of men. It is for 
this that I honor him. 

89 






^"///I 



HE7.I0Cil^I-JjlC EWGKS- i.PnjNT? CO.ISS W./ii'ST. 




JAMES W. GEEAED. 

BY L. A. HENDRICK. 

|P HERE is not a man in New York City wlio holds a 
nearer and a dearer place in the heart of the public than J. 
W. Gerard. His field of usefulness has been varied. One 
thing which makes him desire the city's welfare is that he is not a 
foreigner or an outsider even but one born in our midst and whose 
entire interests center here. The following sketch we extract from 
the New York Herald. 

Mr. Gerard is of Scotch and French extraction, both his parents 
being born in Scotland but their parents were among the Huguenots 
who fled from their lovely land, on the revocation of the Edict of 
Nantes, However, we may claim Mr. Gerard as truli/ American for 
his grandparents came to our glorious land before the Revolution. 
During the war they went to Nova Scotia but returned at its close. 

The greatest pains were taken with his education, going first 
through the finest private schools of the city, and then through 
Columbia College, which was at that time at the height of its glory. 
His college duties were a delightful and easy task to him. He 
graduated with honor, being the tliird in his class. Severe appli- 
cation to study was not to him a necessity in the attainment of 
liigh scholarship. Though a finished classical scholar and a fine 
mathematician, his natural tastes and glowing ambition took a 
higher range than the dull and dry formulas of the text-books. 
The indispensable value of these studies to thorough mental disci- 
pline he early felt and appreciated ; but in his philosophical studies, 
in belles letires, and in broader and pleasanter fields of general lit- 
erature he found tlie most hallowed delight. Studying the miglitj 

91 



2 JAMES W. GERARD 

masters of oratory aiul the intellectual light of tlie Old "World was 
his pleasure : the works of men who swajed Athens and Sparta 
in their glorj ; men wlio moved nations ; men who sang sweet 
songs for youth and for old age, in their day, and for the same 
classes for all time ; men whose glorious deeds still remain to im- 
mortalize their names. Mr. Gerard's sympathy was nevertheless 
with the living present. He studied men and things as tbey were 
presented to him in daily life. His hopes and his ambitions linked 
themselves with the great unbosomed future with whose revolving 
cycles and evolutions of the unknown were interwoven his duties, 
his destiny, bis future being, his coming life-battles, and their vie 
tories and defeats. 

Having taken his degree of Bachelor of Arts — and the records of 
the college show that he took in order also the degree of Master of 
Arts ; and a few years since, as will be remembered, the college 
conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of LaAvs, a title which he 
never assumed — he entered upon the study of law. 

Mr. Gerard began his legal studies in the law office of George 
Griffin, at that time the Gamaliel of the bar, and then in. the zenith 
of his fame. He read law with avidity, and soon had at his fingers' 
ends, so to speak, the contents of the legal text-books. Its tech- 
nical principles, its subtle distinctions, and its nice logic speedily 
became familiar to him. Few law students in their preliminarv 
reading attain a more exact, thorough, and methodized knowledge of 
the general principles of law. His studies were not confined to the 
text-books alone ; he thoroughly explored the abstruse doctrines of 
modern tenures and titles, and extended his research, in fact, into 
every department of equity and jurisprudence. But all this did 
not satisfy him. An essential part of preliminary legal training he 
early saw was to be able to acquire the art of speaking wuth flicility 
and perspicuity. Accordingly he and a few of the associates of his 
early legal days, Hiram Ketchum, Thomas Fessenden, Ogden 
Hoffman, and other young lawyers, formed a debating society 
called the Forum. Their place of meeting was in one of the 

92 



JAMES W. GERARD. 3 

largest and best rooms of the old City Hotel on Broadway, near 
Cedar Street. At first six cents was cliarged for admission, but tlie 
growing ];opularity of the young and brilliant del)aters filled the 
large room, and, as the receipts were given away in cbarity. the 
price of admission was raised to twenty-five cents. Many who 
afterward became distingnished at the bar made here tlieir first 
appearance before the public as debaters, and by their practice 
here in the forensic art acquired that excellence in oratory character- 
izing their subsequent efibrts at the bar. Large numbers still 
living well remember the effoi'ts of Mr. Gerard, Mr. Ilofiinan, 
Hugh Maxwell, lliram Ketchum, and others, at these weekly dis- 
cussions. It was a constellation of brilliant talent. The first 
people in the city went to hear the debates. Often wlien some 
specially exciting topic was to be discussed the old Park Theatre, 
crowded on other nights, would on these nights present a beggarly 
array of empty benches. 

" — The rapid argument 
Soared in gorgeous flight, huking earth 
With heaven by golden chains of eloquence." 

The City Hotel has passed out of existence, and of all the active 
participants in those early scenes of forensic strife only Mr. Gerard, 
Mr. Maxwell, and Mr. Ketchum ai-e now living. 

The Forum was still in the full tide of its splendid success and 
growing popularity when Mr. Gerard was admitted to the bar. 
At this time a bright and dazzling array of great advocates adorn(Hl 
the New York bar. Emmet and Wells, Griffin and Ogdcn, -iones 
and Slosson were its shining ornaments — men not only of great 
acquirements as lawyers, but men of genius and surpassing elo- 
quence, and who cultivated oratory as an important adjunct to their 
profession. Hiring a humble office in William Street, at a rent ot 
one hundred dollars a year, he placed in it a desk, gave the utmost 
compass of display to his limited law library, put up his sign, and 
waited for clients. For some time none came. As he said in his 
speech at the banquet given him, he waited with patience, and 

93 



4 JAMESW. GERARD. 

wondered at the stupidity of people in not employing him. Every 
lawyer has, however, his first case, and he had his. 

Talent, industry, and obstinate perseverance formed the basis of 
Mr. Gerard's eminent success as a lawyer. The advice he gave to 
young lawyers in his banquet speech tells the whole story. Tlie 
pathway he indicated as the one they should choose is the one he 
chose himself. He showed them how genius avails but little in 
getting into practice — how men of great genius rarely make great 
lawyers — how energy, untiring perseverance, and patience are the 
elements that enter into a lawyer's success. He also advised them 
to become masters of the facts, not minding much the law, but 
leaving the latter to the judges. His theory is not to cross-examine 
too much, and not to save all the energies for the summing up, but 
make the opening equally effective. As a general rule, he thinks 
the colloquial the most effective style of addressing juries. Such 
is the programme he long since mapped out for himself. 

His style of speaking, both in the courts and out of them, is his 
own, borrowed from no one — an imitation of no one. Simplicity 
of diction is its most striking feature, and an affluence of language 
that never tires. To him may be applied the line of the old Latin 
poet : — 

" Nihil tetigit quod non ornavit." 

Although never writing out his speeches, legal, political, or 
otherwise, he has always shown the happiest faculty of saying the 
happiest things on all occasions. The letters of Governor Hoffman, 
Judge Latrobe, Chief Justice Hunt, ex-Attorney-General Evarts, 
and Judge Nelson read at the banquet testimonial, and the speeches 
of Mr. Cutting, Judge Blatchford, David Paul Brown, David Dud- 
ley Field, Luther R. Marsh, the late James T. Brady, and other;;, 
set forth in words of glowing eulogium tlie salient points of his 
character, and the causes that contributed to give him his proud 
eminence at the bar. It is unnecessary to repeat these kindly- 
expressed and well-merited eulogiums, as showing the basis of Ins 

94 



JAMES W. GERARD. >J 

Buccessful career. There is a characteristic, however, largely coti- 
tributing to this result, to which allusion should be made, and that 
is, that no person, however poor or humble, ever required his 
services tliat he did not commnnd them with the same zeal he 
would have given them to the richest and the most powerful 
xigain, he did not belong to that class oflawj^ers who — 

"So there were quarrels, cared not for the cause, 
Knowing they mxist be settled h^' the laws;" 

})ut, on the contrary, he always sought to aVoid litigation and only 
advised to resort to it when every other means tailed to accomplish 
the ends of justice. Altogether the cause of his success is clear — 
a disposition glowing with sunshine, a perpetual geniality, lively 
humor, integrity, talents, zeal, energ}', and great capacity for 
labor. 

A voluminous book might be written revealing the wit ima 
humor of Mr. Gerard. No matter what the case or its surround- 
ings, he always managed to bring into pleasant prominence its 
humorous points. While the mock gravity of the owl was foreign 
to his nature, he never strove to be witty. Ilis wit was spontane- 
ous, quick, lightning flashes — the fire struck from the flinty rock. 
His humor was perpetual — the long summer day of golden sun- 
shine. It was as much in his manner as in any thing he said. 
From the multitude of cases showing his humorous traits as a 
lawyer which we might give v/o will cite but one. On one occa- 
sion he was cross-examining a party who had previously been on 
very intimate terms with his client, but were then estranged and 
hostile. The witness had evinced inimical feelings to such an ex- 
tent in giving his testimony that he thought it best to make an 
explanation. 

"My relations with the plaintiff," said the Mitness, "were once 
of the closest character ; we were, in fact, like brothers ; but 
now — " 

" But now you are brothers in law," interrupted Mr. Gerard, 
finishing the sentence before the witness could go further. 

95 



Q JAMES W. GERARD. 

The circumstances connected with Mr. Gerard's first criminal 
case, which was tlie defense of a boj fourteen years of age, indicted 
ft)r stealing- a canary bird, led hiin to think that something miglit 
be done for the reformation of juvenile criminals. He was asked 
to deliver a public address. He visited all the city prisons, saw 
liow old and young offenders were mixed up together, consulted 
the police justices, and from the mass of the material thus collected 
took as the subject of his address the necessity of a house of refuge 
for juvenile delinquents. The proposition met at once with public 
approval, and the Plouse of Kefuge was built. What the House of 
Refuge is to-day need not be told. Its reformatory influence is 
most salutary. Thousands of young offendei's, who, if brought iu 
contact with persons hardened in crime, would themselves become 
hardened criminals, are here educated for future usefulness in life 
by being taught trades, and thence go forth into the woi'ld thor- 
oughly reformed and prepared to become good citizens. It is now 
one of the most useful institutions in the country, and has been 
adopted in nearly every State in the Uipon. 

The spirit of public enterprise forming such a large element in 
Mr. Gerard's career has in nothing shown itself more effectively 
than in his efforts to increase the efficiency of our police force. In 
the course of a European tour he stopped in London some time, 
and while there was particularl)' struck witii the elficiency of the 
London police as contrasted with the inetSciency of the police of 
this city. It became his settled conviction that the wearing of uni- 
forms would give additional respect to the men, and in every way 
be attended with good results. On coming back, he wrote a series 
of able articles in the Jountal of C'Oinmerct\ si)oke repeatedly in 
public on the topic, and in every way sought to impi-ess upon the 
city government the importance of adopting his suggestions, and 
particularly the uniforming of the police and making it a military 
organization. Everybody remembers how our police used to look 
in their shabby coats of many colors and every variety of hat and 
cap, and wilh no badge of office but a star at the breast, that was 

90 



JAMES W. GERARD. 7 

half the time in an eclipse. Having convinced the Police Com- 
missioners of the utility of the proposed uniform they ordered it 
to be worn, but the men rebelled and refused to wear it, calling it 

Mr. Gerard's "d d aristocratic livery." About this time, Mrs. 

Coventry Waddell gave a fancy ball at her residence in Fifth 
Avenue. 

" The police object to wearing the new uniform," said Mr, Gerard 
to Mr. Matsell, who was then Chief of Police. " Will you lend me 
a suit ? I am not ashamed to wear it." 

"Certainly," replied the chief; but where are you going to wear 

itr 

" At a ball on Fifth Avenue." 

" That is a fashionable place to introduce the uniform," said the 
robust and smiling chief. 

Mr. Matsell gave him a complete uniform, hat, club, and all. The 
police heard of it, and said if Mr. Gerard was not ashamed to wear 
it they certainly ought not to be. And so it was adopted without 
further objection. In almost every city of the United States police 
uniforms are now worn. 

A somewhat memorable event in the history of Mr. Gerard is his 
crusade some years ago against newsboys. He does not object to 
newsboys; thinks them a great institution — an indispensable insti- 
tution in our nineteenth century of civilization. His only objection 
was to their vociferous style of crying out Sunday papers on Sunday 
morning, waking everybody from sleep and disturbing ministers and 
congregations at the Sabbath worship. The Sunday officers were 
powerless against the noisy urchins, and Mr. Gerard, deter- 
mined to abate the nuisance, directed an officer, although he had no 
warrant, to arrest an editor, who, as an exponent of the rights of 
newsboys, had taken on himself to cry out and sell papers. On 
Mr. Gerard promising to indemnify the officer, the latter arrested 
the editor and marched him off to the Tombs, where he was thrown 
into a cell, to answer a charge of disorderly conduct. An action 
for false imprisonment was brought by the editor. We will not 
7 97 



8 JAMBS W. GERARD. 

pursue the case tlirough all its lengthy details. There were several 
trials and appeals. Mr. Gerard carried his point, and was success- 
ful in abating the nuisance. It was in contemplation to give Mr. 
Gerard a piece of plate for his success in the matter, but he never 
accepted the honor. 

No man in tlie city has taken a livelier interest in the cause of pub- 
lic education than Mr. Gerard. It has been no ephemeral, spas- 
modic interest. It has been the interest of a lifetime. His warm 
and generous and sunny nature has a special affinity for children. 
His soul overflows with tenderness and love for them. He is never 
60 happy as when surrounded with their smiling faces. With his 
o-rowing years this love has grown in its intensity, and in the sweet- 
ness and purity of his devotion to their interests. For over twenty 
years he has been an officer of our public schools. No one has con- 
tributed more than he to perfecting our present splendid system of 
popular education. There is not a public school in this city every 
child of which does not know his face, and look more smiling and 
happy when he comes. As is well known, he has been in the habit 
of delivering frequent lectures to the older children, and he always 
has a pleasant word to say to all, from the youngest to the oldest. 
Our public schools was the closing theme of his great banquet speech. 
His soul dilated with joy, and a beautiful and almost sacred inspir- 
ation clothed his utterances. No more beautiful thought and more 
beautifully expressed was ever uttered than that embodied in his 
his closing words, which we can not refrain from quoting: ''There 
"is one hour in the day, which is sacred in tliis great city, and 
"which is enough to redeem it from much of its sin and wicked- 
"ness. As the city bells toll out the hour of nine in the morning 
" a liundred thousand children are engaged in prayer in more tlian 
"a hundred lofty buildings; a hundred thousand tongues, with 
"eyes cast upward to the skies, are repeating in solemn, subdued 
"accents that beautiful prayer to their God which our Saviour 
" taught on earth ; a hundred thousand voices pour forth a solemn 
"ciiant in praise of the great Creator who has given them the light 

98 



• JAMES W. GERARD. 9 

"of another dav, and the sweet music of children's voices pouring 
"forth strains of solemn music is more acceptable to Heaven than 
" any holy incense ever thrown from silver censer. There is sub- 
"limityin the thought.'' His interest in our public schools and 
his labors for their benefit will only terminate with his life, 

Never having been an active politician, it requires but few lines 
to give a summary of Mr. Gerard's political life. He was a Federal- 
ist of the old school and became a member of the Whig party, but 
when that became an abolition party, under the leadership of Seward 
and others, he left it, and although he has since acted with the De- 
mocracy, but not with its ring by any means, he has alwaj^s been 
independent and voted for tlie best men, without regard to party. 
Having almost uniformly acted with the minority, he has never been 
put up for any office, nor held any except that of Inspector of Pub- 
lic Schools. It is well known, however, that he has never had any 
political nor judicial aspirations, although once oftered the nomina- 
tion for Congress, and once that of Judge of the Superior Court. 
Being devoted to his profession he would not give it up for office of 
any kind. 

In early life Mr. Gerard was married to a danghter of Governor 
Sumner, of Massachusetts, and sister of General Sumner. They had 
four cliildren, of whom only two — a son and danghter —are now liv- 
ing. His wife died some five years ago, leaving him a large landed 
estate in Boston. Since 1844 he has lived at his present residence 
on Gramercy Park, then the most northerly ■iiouse in New York, 
and the second stone house in this city. He is an Episcopalian, and 
attends Dr. Washburne's church. He is as tree from bigotry in re- 
ligion as he is from partisanship in politics. In private life he is 
the most companionable of men. In society his address is the most 
charming that can be imagined, and its honhominie irresistible. 
He keeps up with the times, its literature, its socialities, its amuse- 
ments, its busy, animated life. No one is more often to be seen at 
the opera, concert, or lecture room if there is promise of a good 
evening's entertainment. Advancing j-ears do not dampen his 

99 



10. JAMES W. GERARD. 

spirits nor his vivacity. He has always known how to enjoy hitn- 
self, and in this regard shows no departure from the habits of a life- 
time. Next to his taste for tlie opera and music is his passion for 
fine paintings. He has several times made the tour of all the picture 
galleries in Europe, and the walls of liis parlors are adorned with 
8ome of the finest works of the old masters. There is, in fact, no 
more valuable collection of private paintings in this city. Every- 
body knows i\\Q 2^<^'*"'^onnel of Mr. Gerard. Probably no one is more 
widely known. As we have already stated, he is in the enjoyment 
of excellent healtli, and it is to be hoped he may be long spared to 
scatter about him the blessings of geniality and public usefulness 
and charities, which are abundant, though unostentatious. 

On Mr. Gerard's withdrawal in 186S from the practice of his pro- 
fci^sion, there was a magnificent banquet given him at Delmonico's, 
It was a tribute nnprecedented in its character — a tribute to his 
eminent abilities as a lawyer, to his zeal and nnbendiug integrity 
in his profession, and to the general kindliness of disposition he has 
shown at all times during his long and honorable service at the 
bar — a tribute of wdiich any man may be justly proud. This 
tribute — magnificent as it was, and while all the great legal lumi- 
naries of our city and the leading notabilities of other profe^sion3 
gi'aced the banquet with their presence ; and, while learning, taste, 
wit. imagination, and eloquence gave force and brilliancy to the 
apeeches — is only feebly expressive of the more extended and broader 
universality of regard entertained for Mr. Gerard as a citizen. His 
fame has gone beyond the boundaries of court rooms, preparing 
briefs and oi)ening cases, examining witnesses and sunmiing up, 
that climax of legal eftort in which the lawyer summons up all the 
tact and brilliancy and eloquence and power there is in him to 
accomplish a verdict for his client. His name has long been a 
household word. His activity of enterprise as a citizen has been 
sleepless. No one need to be told that to him we owe the establish- 
ment of the House of Refuge, that it was through his efforts our 
police were uniformed, and that to his devotion to our educational 

100 



JAMES W. GKRAED Jl 

interests we are mainly indebted for the present perfected system of 
our public schools. lie has not stopped liere. In all matters of 
public interest his voice and influence have been heard and felt. 
Ennobling charities, reforms in government and politics, literature, 
science and art, each have always had in him a strong and faithful 
ally. A pure and broad philanthropy welling up from a nature 
warm and generous and bubbling over with kindly sympathies, and 
a humor, giving perpetnally pleasing beauty and brightness to his 
life, pervades his whole soul and being. His life has been an active 
one in his profession and out of it. To him labor est ooliiptaa. He 
can not live without labor. His labors in his profession were always 
on the side of justice and right. His labors out of the profession 
have been unceasing labors of love for all that elevates manhood 
and makes life and goodness and joy synonyms of each other and 
sweetly kin to all that is pure and true and beautiful. A life made 
up of his varied professioiud experiences, and electric with the vital- 
izing influences of his genial temperament, sprightly humor, and 
expansive benevolence, is replete with incidents giving to narrative 
a livelier glow than the most vivacious records of fiction. In con- 
clusion we give a part of his speech at the bancpiet : — 

" I have no apprehension that I shall slide down into listless 
apathy. My time will be fully occupied. I shall have enough to 
do. I go from the bustle of the law, not into listlessness, l)ut into 
a large and active scene of usefulness. I shall give the principal 
])art of my time and energies to the public schools — the largest and 
most splendid system of popular education, whicli is known in any 
})art of the world ; and that is one great motive of my giving up 
the practice of the law. I have been for twenty years a peripatetic 
educational missionary ; and although my especial ground is con- 
fined to the Fifteenth and Eighteenth wards, yet my walks have 
extended over the whole city from the Battery to Harlem ; from 
the East to the North rivers ; and I intend to devote my energies 
to the welfare and interest of the rising generation of the working 
classes of the city. The school system as organized in this city ia 

101 



12 JAMES W. GERARD. 

perfect; it requires no change, no aiTiendraent : and only let the 
politicians keep clear of it, and its success will be certain. 

" The doors of its attractive school-houses are opened to receive, 
without money and without price, the children not only of the 
native, but of all immigrants, no matter from what part of the 
world they come or what language they speak ; no matter what is 
their nationality, what their social condition, or their religion. The 
doors are open to Jew and Gentile, and Christians of all denomi- 
nations — the Protestant, the Catholic, the Episcopalian, the Pres- 
byterian, Methodist, or Baptist — all meet on neutral ground, and 
they acquire as good a practical education (both sexes) as any 
boarding or day-school in the country or in any country can afford. 
To a gentleman of any taste or refinement, nothing is more agree- 
able, and I may say instructive, than to pass an hour or two in the 
morning in the class-room, and see the development of mind and 
the ambitious strife between the different nationalities, of the 
masses of children, who, with happy faces, ^o through their exer- 
cises under a mild, but beautiful and gentle discipline, with no 
harsh or loud orders given, but the discipline of the whole school 
led by the music of a piano or the sound of a little bell. In any 
discussions relative to the merits of the public schools, remember 
that xmiversal intelligenoe is the hulwarJc of a repul)lic, and if you 
will have universal suffrage^ you must have its antidote, universal 
ethicatton. 

'' I shall now conclude my remarks. Tiiis beautiful banquet will 
ever be a green spot in my memory, which I never, never can 
forget. It is the greatest compliment could possibly be paid me. 
It is unprecedented to a mere lawyer who never wore the ermine 
or held judicial office, and was simply in the rank and file of the 
bar. As we now part, I wish you all, individually, health, happi- 
ness, and prosperity for many years to come. May your lines be 
cast in pleasant places. May you be plagued with few of the ills 
of life which flesh is heir to. May your paths be strewed with 
roses, and may there be but few thorns among them." 

102 



W. H. WEBB. 




.R. WEBB was horn in the citj of New York, June 19, 1816, 
of parents wliose ancestors were English and Huguenot on 
the paternal side, and Huguenot and Scotcli on the 
Qiaternal. The former had settled in Connecticut and the latter in 
New York long before our War of the Revolution. 

His father, Isaac Webb, was born in Stamford, Connecticut. 
He removed to the city of New York with his parents, when 
quite young, and early engaged in the business of ship-building. 
He afterward became the leading member of the well-known ship- 
building firms of Isaac Webb & Co. and Webb & Allen of New 
York. For several years, he was also associated with the renowned 
ship-builder Henry Eckford, prominent during and after the War 
of 1812. 

The subject of our sketch received his education at the private 
schools of New York and New Jersey. For awhile he attended, 
the grammar school of Columbia College, wliere he won the 
regard of the professors and attained the highest rank in 
mathematics. 

In liis early years he evinced little fondness for youthful sports, 
but rather a taste for rare and beautiful natural curiosities, collec- 
tions of which were made during his school boy days. 

At the age of thirteen, our future ship-builder constructed his 
first boat (a small skiff), during his summer vacation. Others 
followed (among them a paddle-boat), being built during the 
following two years. 

The fondness displayed by tlie sop for such pursuits was not 
pleasing to the father. When the summer vacation came round, 
the latter intimated that he wished his son, who was then fifteen 

103 



2 W. H. WEBB. 

years of age, to resort during tlie vacation only to the molding-loft of 
his father's ship-yard for occupation and amusement. A molding- 
loft is a building expressly arranged for laying off plans of vessels 
in full size, which are built from patterns made after these plans. 

Here, much to the surprise and regret of the parents and his 
school-teachers, with whom he was a favorite and who had formed 
other plans of life for the boy, he determined to learn the art of 
constructing ships. He therefore sought permission, which was 
never given, to stay in the ship-yard. The lad, however, was suf- 
fered to remain at the molding-loft, his parents hoping that a 
brief experience w^ould suffice and a return to school follow. But 
their hopes were doomed to disappointment. 

Exposure at the yard during the next winter, caused (as he was 
not robust) severe illness. On recovery, parents and friends en- 
deavored to dissuade the boy from his purpose, but without avail, 
and work in the ship-yard was resumed. 

Two years had rolled round and the age of seventeen was reached, 
by which time the boy discovered he had eml)raced a profession 
most difficult to learn, requiring constant and extraordinary appli- 
cation. He was now ready to relinquish his object, fearing that his 
dreams of becoming a master of the business would never be 
realized. But remembrance of the determination shown in the 
beginning, contrary to his parents' desire, knowledge of the humili- 
ation attending an abandonment after such action, together with the 
fact that others had succeeded, and therefore he ought to succeed, 
induced the boy to persevere. 

Nearly six years were spent in constant work by day, and hard 
study at night, in order to obtain the scientific and practical knowl- 
edge necessary to become a complete master of the art of ship- 
building. He took only one week of vacation during this 
time, wliich was principally spent in a visit of examination to the 
dry-dock at the Boston Navy Yard, then new and the first of the 
kind built in this country. 

At the early age of twenty, having been previously intrusted 

104 



W. H. WEBB. 3 

■with the direction of principal portions of the work in the construc- 
tion of ships and the management of men, lie undertook, under a 
subcontract made with his father, tlie building of the New York 
and Liverpool packet-ship Oxford of the old Black Ball Line. 

He continued the business of constructing vessels as sub-con- 
tractor until the age of twenty-three, having in the mean time built 
the Havre packet-ship Dnchesse (rOi-Uans {iii\\\ doing good service), 
the Liverpool packet-ship New York, and two smaller vessels. 
About this time the young man's health began to fail, and he took 
a trip to Liverpool in the last-named ship on her first voyage — 
partly with a view of becoming more fully acquainted with the 
performance of a ship at sea. After a short tour of Great Britain 
and a visit to the Continent, he was unexpectedly recalled by 
the death of his father, whose business affairs were found to be 
involved. 

Soon after his return home, he formed a partnership, April 1, 
ISIO, with his father's former associate, under the new firm of 
Webb & Allen. This lasted three years, when Mr. Allen retired, 
and the then prosperous business has since been conducted by Mr. 
Webb alone with increasing aTid remarkable success. He has 
built, up to the present time, one hundred and thirty -four vessels. 
Many of these are London, Liverpool, and Havre packets, as well 
as steam-ships of the largest tonnage and in the aggi'egate greater 
than that of any other constructor in this country. 

Mr. Webb never built ships on speculation, but always under 
contract. Having early given evidence of his ability in the model- 
ing of steam-vessels, he was engaged to construct the first steam- 
ships to run between New York and Savannah. He also built the 
first large steamer for the New Orleans trade, as well as the first 
steamer for the Pacific Mail Steam-ship Company, carrying the 
United States Mail between Panama and San Francisco. He con- 
structed all the steamers subsequently built for that company. The 
first steamer that entered the Golden Gate (harbor of San Fran- 
cisco), also the first three steamers prelected to carry the first United 

105 



4 W, H. WKBB. 

States Mail from New York to China, via Aspinwall, Panama, and 
San Francisco, were built by Mr. Webb. 

About the year 1S50 he conceived the idea of constructing a 
model vessel of war for the United States navy, and application was 
made at Washington with this view. This application brought an 
offer from Mr. Dobbin, Secretary of the Navy, for the construction 
of a model steam-frigate, but on the condition that the vessel should 
be built in the United States' government dock-yards. This condi- 
tion was so inconvenient, on account of other engagements, and the 
jealous hostility manifested by the Bureau of Construction at 
Washington was so great, that Mr. Webb had to abandon his 
cherished idea. 

Application was next made to the Emperor of the French, who 
listened favorably to Mr. Webb's proposal, but returned answer, 
that the objections made by the Marine Department were such 
that he declined ordering a vessel to be built out of their own 
duck-yards. 

Determined to pursue his object, Mr. Webb sent in the spring of 
1851 an agent to St. Petersburg, with proposals to the Kussian gov- 
ernment, who returned the same year unsuccessful. He reported 
sufficient encouragement, however, to induce his being sent again 
the following year. 

Du)-ing the agent's second visit, the Russian government consid- 
ered Mr. Webb's proposals to construct for them one or more large 
model war-steamers, but were disinclined to treat with other than the 
principal himself. Something of the hesitancy on the part of the 
government arose from the fact that the then Russian minister at 
Washington, Mr. Bodisco, would not tavor the project, having (as he 
said) had too nmch trouble with parties in this country who had 
previously obtained contracts from his government. 

The favorable report forwarded by his agent, induced Mr. Webb 
to repair to St. Petersburg in person, during the summer of 1S52, 
at great inconvenience to his business at home. On arriving there, 
Lu found his agent had misled him. and that the Emperor Nicholas, 

106 



W. H. WEBB. 5 

for tlie same reasons tliat influenced his minister, Mr. Bodisco, had 
decided not to order a vessel to be built in America. 

This was a dilemma: the apparent defeat of the long-cherished 
object of liis visit, which was known to his countrymen and entailed 
much loss of time and sacrifice of business, was crushing to the 
pride and hopes of Mr. Webb. Howev^er, he decided to make 
further efforts to gain his end. Here the determination of character 
sliown in the boy Avas evinced in the man. 

Other proposals were made and additional inducements offered to 
the naval committee, who expressed a willingness to consider them, 
but saying it would be more than their heads were worth to receive 
new proposals without orders from higher authority. The influence 
of the Grand Duke Constantine, General Admiral of the Russian 
navy, was now sought. But as he was leaving for the annual re- 
view of the fleet at sea, Mr. Webb was obliged to suffer a vexatious 
delay. 

On his return, the grand duke accorded a personal interview, 
when he was so favorably impressed, that he promised (provided Mr. 
Webb would agree to deliver the vessel, when built, at Cronstadt) 
to bring the subject once more to the notice of the emperor. This 
condition, which entailed enormous risk and responsibility, having 
been agreed to, the matter was again referred to the naval commit- 
tee. The latter soon made a favorable report to the general admi- 
ral, and the result was that the emperor was induced to rescind 
the order previously given. Mr. Webb then left St. Petersburg, in 
six weeks after his arrival, with an order for the construction of a 
large steam line-of-battle ship after his proposed model and plans, 
as well as other orders of magnitude. 

Immediately on his return home, Mr. Webb commenced the 
necessary preparations for the construction of the first ship ; but 
before sufi&cient materials could be collected for the building of so 
large a vessel, the war between Russia and the Allies (England, 
France, and Turkey) broke out and put a stop to tlie work. The 
neutrality laws of the United States rendered questionable the pro- 

107 



Q W. H. WEBB. 

priety of proceeding under the contract. On the restoration of 
peace, the work under the contract was resumed, but upon a differ- 
ent plan and a new model, designed and submitted by Mr. Webb, 
with a less number of guns, though of larger caliber and mounted 
on fewer decks. This idea, originating with him and presenting 
great advantages over the plans formerly a(;cepted, has since been 
adopted in the navies of all maritime countries. 

Tlie vessel was built strictly in accordance with these plans and 
this model, notwithstanding the Russian officers, who had been sent 
to America to superintend her construction and who had remained 
in this country during the Crimean War, withheld their approval. 
But when the vessel was tried at sea, they were not sparing of 
their expressions of satisfaction. Her performances exceeded, 
especially in the matter of speed, all expectations and the 
promises made to the general admiral when the contract was 
entered into. 

On the 21st day of September, 1858, just one year after the lay- 
ing of the keel, this screw frigate of 72 guns, 7,000 tons displace- 
ment, and named the General Admiral— in honor of the Grand 
Duke Constantino — was launched from Mr. Webb's yard in the 
city of New York. It has proved to be the fastest vessel of war 
yet built (except the Steam Kam Dunderhercj^ since constructed 
by liini), having made the passage from New York to Cherbourg 
in the unprecedented time of eleven days and eight hours, mostly 
under steam alone. 

Mr. Webb delivered this magnificent and most powerful steamer 
at the port of Cronstadt, in person, in the summer of 1859. lie 
received from the imperial Russian government very valuable 
testimonials, both written and substantial, of the satisfaction with 
Avhich they received the vessel, as well as the high opinion enter- 
tained of the manner in which all promises and the details of the 
contract were carried out. The unexampled success of the frigate 
General Admiral soon became known to the naval authorities in 
Europe, and especially attracted the attention of the Italian govern- 

108 



W H WEBB. 7 

nicnt, which had just about that time been created through the 
aj^ency of Couut Cavour. This eminent and far-sighted statesman 
invited Mr. Webb to visit Turin, then the seat of government. 
Tlie latter here entered into contract with the royal Italian govern- 
ment to construct two iron-clad screw fi'igates, each of thirty-six 
large guns and six thousand tons displacement, afterward named 
the Re d' Italia and the lie di Portogallo. 

The contract for these two frigates having been made just previous 
to the breaking out of the Rebellion in the United States, great 
obstacles interposed, consequently, to its fuliillment, especially as 
these were the first iron-clads ever built in this country. Never- 
theless, both vessels were delivered within the time agreed upon. 

Mr. Webb was engaged at the same time in rebuilding and re- 
fitting for war purposes many steam-vessels for his own govern- 
ment, as well as constructing several large steamers for the mer- 
chant service. 

The Re d'' Italia was the first iron-clad steamer that crossed 
the Aflantic, and gave proofs of extraordinary sea-going qualities 
and speed. The same may be said of her sister ship, the Re db 
Portogallo. The former made the passage in the winter season 
from New York to Naples, a distance of over five thousand miles, 
in eighteen days and twenty hours, mostly under steam alone. 

The literal fulfillment of the contract for these two frigates and 
their performances were so satisfactory to the Italian government, 
that King Yictor Emmanuel conferred on Mr. Webb the Order of 
Saints Maurice and Lazarus (one of the oldest in Europe) as a token 
of his esteem. 

While the frigates were in course of construction, Mr. Webb 
accepted an order from our own government to build a screw ram 
of large tonnage, expressly adapted for the heaviest armament, to 
possess the highest speed and tlie best sea-going qualities — the model 
and plans to be designed by himself. 

The task thus imposed was a very difiicult one, never having 
been accomplished before; but Mr. Webb in a short time presented 

109 



8 W. H. WEBB. "' 

a model and plans entirely original, designed by himself, for the 
consideration and approval of the naval authorities at Washington. 
The plans were submitted to a board of naval experts, consisting of 
the cliiefs of the bureaus of both construction and engineering, and 
others, by whom the}'' were condemned. 

Here again arose a difficulty, Mr. Webb oflferinghis opinions and 
experience in opposition to those of the Navy Department, and in- 
sisting that the experts were wrong and could not appreciate the 
advantages of his plan. He persevered till the then Secretary of 
the Navy, Mr. Welles, relying entirely on Mr. Webb, entered into 
contract with him for the construction of that remarkable vessel 
known as the Dunderherg. Its dimensions are three hundred and 
seventy-eight feet on deck, sixty-eight feet breadth of beam, and 
thirty-two feet depth of hold. It has a displacement of seventy-two 
hundred tons, being the largest iron-clad yet built. It also affords 
more room for fuel, stores, provisions, as well as accommodation for 
officers and crew, with a less draft of water, than any other large 
armored vessel of war. • 

The performances of this ship surprised the Nav}^ Department 
and the country, surpassing all the promises made by Mr. Webb, 
as well as the requirements of the contract. Her speed has not yet 
been equaled in any vessel of war, being fifteen knots at sea fully 
armed and in commission. 

The model of this iron-clad is new and distinct from the turret 
or Monitor system. It embodies many novelties, as well as a ram 
of peculiar construction. The engines have also several new and 
important features. 

With her extraordinary speed, enormous weight of broadside 
battery (four thousand and twenty-four pounds of solid shot), and 
the prow, her destructive power is immense — far greater than that 
of any other ship ever yet constructed. 

The Rebellion having ended before the completion of this vessel, 
the Secretary of the Navy favored Mr. Webb's proposition to be 
allowed to sell her to some foreign government. With this view, 

110 



W. H. WEBB. 9 

Mr. "Webb procured the passage of an act of Congress, directing 
the Secretary of the Navy to release the foi'mer from his contract. 
This encouTitered decided opposition on the part of General Grant, 
Secretary Stanton, and others, who said so powerful a vessel of war 
ought never to be allowed to become the property of another power. 

Mr. Webb, now en{ij)led to treat with other governments for the 
sale of his steamer, soon found applicants, and without much delay 
sold her to the Emperor of the French for a larger sum than had 
been agreed to be paid by the United States. As the purchase of 
the Dunderherg provided oidy for deliver}' at the port of New York, 
the French Admiralty engaged Mr. Webb to deliver her at Cher- 
bourg. He sailed contrary to tlie advice of his friends, who seemed 
to think it a perilous undertaking in a vessel of such novel con- 
struction. The Dunderherg arrived safely at the port of Cherbourg 
after a rough passage of fourteen days. 

Mr. Webb has received from high naval authorities of France, 
also from tlie Em])eror Napoleon, assurances of their great satisfac- 
tion with the perforniances of the Dunderherg (now liochamheaic)^ 
his majesty having promised to confer the Order of the Legion of 
Honor on its constructor. 

Among the vessels since built by Mr. Webb are the steamers 
Bristol and Prcmdenee running from New York on the route to 
Boston, being the largest of their class and magnificently fitted up. 
They are the first of this class ever built by Mr. Webb, and their 
models difl'er from those heretofore constructed for the trade by 
others. They were consequently objected to by experts, and their 
performances awaited with much interest. Suffice it to say, that at 
their first trials they surpassed in speed any steamers previously 
built, accomplishing twenty miles per hour continuously. 

Our constructor was employed by the Pacific Mail Steam-ship 
Company to build the model steamer (afterward called the Chma) 
fur their new line to run between San Francisco and China. This 
vessel, one of the largest merchant-steamers ever constructed in this 
country, accommodates twelve hundred passengers, and carries at 

lU 



10 W. H. WEBB. 

the same time about two thousand tons of freight. It also combines 
tlie greatest strength whh the liighest speed. New elements of 
streno-th, originated bj Mr. Webb, were introdneed in the construe 
tion of this ship. She has encountered several hurricanes in the 
Chinese and Japanese seas, and performed wonders in the opinion 
of nautical men. 

To enumerate all the important vessels that have been constructed 
by our subject during the past thirty years, would be a tedious 
task. However, we ma^' mention the Guy 3I(mnering (Liverpool 
packet), the first full three-deck merchant vessel built in this country ; 
and thesliip Ocean Monarchy possessing the greatest freight capacity 
of any ever constructed up to the present time. She has received 
on board over seven thousand bales of cotton at one loading, 
drawing no more than eighteen and a half feet of water. 

Among the few clippers built by this gentleman are tlie Clial- 
lenge^ Comet, Invincible, and Young America. These ai"e all cele- 
brated, one of them (the Comet), under the command of Captain 
Gardner, having made live successive voyages, averaging one hun- 
dred days, between Xew York and San Francisco; and one voyage 
from San Francisco to New York in seventy-six days. This is the 
shortest passage ever made between the two ports. 

In addition to the building of vessels, Mr. Webb has been en- 
gaged in the steamship business, having run an o])position line of 
steamers for several years between New Yoik and San Francisco. 
However, he finally amalgamated his interests with those of the 
Pacific Mail Steam-ship Company, and his line was withdrawn. ' At 
present, he is running the only American steamers in tlie European 
trade, and recently sent the first American steamer into the Baltic. 

He now purposes establishing a line of steam-ships to run between 
San Francicco and Australia, via Honolulu and other islands in the 
Pacific Ocean. Such a record of successful entei'prise, in an im- 
portant and a diftieult department of business, requiring mental 
qualities of a high order, as also indomitable perseverance, is its 
own eulogy, and stamps Mr. Webb as a man of progress. 

112 




HOK EDWARDS PIERREPOISrT. 

BY P. n. GREER. 

;UDGE riERREPOlS'T* is of an old Connecticut family, 
being a descendant of James Pierrepont, one of tlie 
founders of Yale College. He is a native of IS'orth Haven, 
and was graduated at Yale College, in the class of 1837, with very 
high honors. His legal education was received at the New Haven 
Law School, of which Judge Daggett was then the head. 

In 18-tO he went to Columbus, Ohio, and became the partner of 
P. B. Wilcox, a distinguislied lawyer of tliat city. After five years 
he returned to practice in Kew York, and in 1840 he married the 
daughter of Samuel A, Willoughby, her mother being of the old 
Dutch family of De Bevoise, in Brooklyn. 

In 1857 he was elected Judge of the Superior Court of New 
York, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Chief Justice Oak- 
ley. In 186.0 he resigned his seat upon the bench and resumed the 
practice of the law, and has, for many years, been one of tlie most 
eminent men at the Kew York bar. 

Until the breaking out of the war he had always been a Demo- 
crat, but from the first he took an active part against the Rebel- 
lion. He was a member of the Union Defense Committee, and a 
zealous supporter of the administration of Mr. Lincoln. In 1S63 
he was appointed, with General Dix, to try the prisoners of state, 
then confined in the various prisons and forts of the Federal 
government. 

* Pierrepont is the old English mode of spelling the name ; in this country many 
shortened it to Pkrvont : the original and correct spelling is now pretty generally 
restored. 

8 113 



2 EDWARDS PIERREPONT. 

In 1S64 he was one of the most active in organizing tlie War 
Democrats in favor of the re-election of Abraham Lincoln. 

In 1867 he was a member of the Constitutional Convention of the 
State of JS^ew York, and one of the Judiciary Committee. 

In the spring of 1867 he was employed by the Attorney-General 
and the Secretary of Slate, to conduct the prosecution on the part 
of the government against John H. Surratt, indicted for aiding 
in the murder of President Lincoln. This celebrated trial com- 
menced before the United States District Court in the city of 
Washington on the 10th day of June, and lasted until the 10th 
day of August, 1867. 

In the Presidential contest of 1868, Judge Pierrepont was an ar- 
dent supporter of General Grant, making very large contributions 
in money, and effective speeches upon the Republican side. 

General Grant upon his accession to the Presidency in 1869 ap- 
pointed Judge Pierrepont, Attorney of the United States for the 
Southern District of New York, which office he resigned in July, 
1870. 

The Pierrepont family are of Norman origin. At the time of 
the Conquest, Robert de Pierrepont came over to England with the 
Conqueror. The family name was Robert ; Pierrepont was the 
designation or title ; the head of the family taking the name of the 
castle and estates, which derived their name from a stone-hridge 
built in Normandy in the time of Charlemagne, to take the place 
of a ferry, which was then considered a great work. In the time 
of Edward I., Sir Henry de Pierrepont, possessed of large landed 
estates, married Annora de Man vers by whom he acquired the 
Lordship of Holme \\\ the County of Nottingham, now called 
Ilolme-Pierrepont. 

Sir George Pierrepont, of Holme-Pierrepont, had three sons : 
from the elder was descended the Earls of Kingston ; and from the 
Earls, the Dukes of Kingston. From the younger, was descended 
John Pierrepont, who came to Roxbury, now a part of Boston, and 
his eldest son was the Rev. James Pierrepont, of New Haven, 

114 



EDWARDS PIERREPONT. g 

whose descendant, eldest in the male line, was the I'ightful heir to 
the dio;nities and estates of the second Duke of Kingston, who was 
grandson to the tirst duke, and who died without issue just before 
the American Revolution ; which event prevented the recovery of 
the titles and estates by the American branch of the Pierrepont 
family, and cast the estate upon the female line of the English 
branch. 

Lady Frances Pierrepont, grand-daughter of the first Duke of 
Kingston, married Sir Philip Meadows, and her son, Charles 
Meadows, on the death of the last duke, assumed the name of 
Pierrepont and took the estates in right of his wife, though he 
could not inherit the titles of the Pierrepont family. The present 
Earl Man vers is the son of Charles Meadows and grandson to Lady 
Frances Pierrepont. 

Lady Mary Pierrepont, afterward the celebrated Lady Mary 
Montagu, was the eldest daughter of the first Duke of Kingston, 
and her daughter married the Marquis of Bute, from which mar- 
riage came in direct line the present Marquis of Bute. 

The Rev. James Pierrepont, of New Haven, had six sons and 
two daughters. Through this common ancestor the families of 
Pierrepont, Edwards, and Dwight are connected. Sarah, daughter 
of the Rev. James Pierrepont, was married to the eminent divine, 
President Jonathan Edwards. The celebrated Pierrepont Ed- 
wards was her son. Judge Ogden Edwards, of New York, and 
Governor Henry W. Edwards, of Connecticut, were her grandsons. 
The late Henry Pierrepont Edwards, judge of the Supreme Court 
of Kew York, was her great-grandson. 

Timothy Dwight, D. D., so long the distinguished President of 
Y'^ale College, was her grandson, and from him is descended Hon. 
Theodore W. Dwight, Professor of Law, in the city of ISTew York. 
The Hon. Theodore Dwight Woolsey, now the learned and eminent 
President of Yale College, is directly descended from the same 
stock. 

Judge Pierrepont, of New York, the subject of this sketch, is a 

115 



4: EDWARDS PIER RE PONT. 

direct" descendant of Joseph, tlie third son of the Rev. James 
Pierrepont. William C. Pierrepont, of Pierrepont Manor, and 
Henry E. Pierrepont, of Brooklyn, are direct descendants of lleze- 
kiah, the sixth son of the Rev. James Pierrepont. 

The original portraits of the Rev. James Pierrepont and Mary 
his wife, are in the possession of Judge E. K. Foster, of New 
Haven, who is a direct descendant, through the female line, of the 
sixth son of the Rev. J ames Pierrepont. 

Judge Pierrepont ranks high as an impressive and eloquent 
speaker. He is a cogent logical reasoner, and an able debater. 
His clear utterances, his earnest manner, his dignified, polished 
diction, render him at all times an agreeable and pleasing speaker. 
He is quiet, fond of literature, and a close student. In addressing 
])ublic audiences, he commands the closest attention. His private 
life is without a blemish. His independent nature, and his devotion 
to a principle, command the respect of his political opponents. He 
has always dared to pursue the coui-se his sense suggested. 

He is exclusive in his social taste, but with a high standard of 
inteo-rit}' ; more proud than vain, and more cordial than familiar. 
Intimately known but to few, he is respected by all as a gentleman 
of culture and of elevated character. He has, for some years, been 
prominent in public affairs, and distinguished among the foremost 
in the legal profession : noted for his clear perceptions, energy, and 
strong common-sense, he is much employed in important business. 

He started with the best advantages of education, and has con- 
tinued to be exceedingly industrious. Nature gave him a remark- 
ably cool and even temper, which nothing disturbs ; this, united 
with firm courage and great determination, has contributed to his 
success. Few men are more self-poised or self-reliantj and none 
more completely follow^ their own judgment, or more readily take 
the responsibility and accept the consequences of their own acts. 

116 




'ij jam CW'S"^ 




"Z^-^A 







HOI^. E. DELAFIELD SMITH. 

BY GEORGE P. ANDKEWS, 

Assistant Attorney of the United States durinr) tlue official terms of District Attorneys Theodore 
Sedyicick, James I. lioosecelt, E. Delajield Smith, and Daniel S. Dickinson. 

"■^■"^ ^ '^ ^^^^ ^^^^ g^^^^T ^^^ ^^^^ United States, that as early as 
(A the year 1820, their national Cono^ress declared the Slave 
>^ Trade piracy, and threatened its infamous participants 
with the penalty of death. It was the shame of the Re- 
public that from that time till 18GI, a period of forty-one years, 
a law which the publicists of the world had eulogized, remained a 
dead letter. Ships had been seized and mariners arrested ; naval 
officers had been active and marshals demonstrative ; but no 
prosecuting officer had followed the one to condemnation and sale, 
nor the other to conviction and execution. It v/as reserved to 
E. Delatield Smith, District Attorney of the United States at 
New York during the administration of Abraham Lincoln, a 
young and untitled lawyer, to bring to the scaffold, after the 
iniquity of a third voyage, the captain of a slave ship. 

Humanity had long demanded a terrible example to deter cupidity 
from this cruel crime. The difficulties of proof and the perversities of 
juries had become proverbial, and public sentiment did not then coin- 
cide with the severity of the declared penalty. The law had been pro- 
nounced by men of legal eminence too defective in detail to admit 
of enforcement. This very culprit had, in 18G0, been offered immu- 
nity from the punishment of death if he would plead guilty and 
accept a commutation of sentence to mere imprisonment. To 
bring him to justice, required ability, energy, persistency, a power 
of persuasion, rare courage, and perfect integrity. The result, in 
the execution of Nathaniel Gordon, master of the slave ship 

117 



2 HON. E. DELAFIELD SMITH. 

" Erie," is at once a moniiineiit to the public services, and a key 
to the character, of the subject of tliis sketch. Its consequences 
to the country, at a time when foreign nations were seeking to 
intervene against us in our late struggle for national existence 
upon the ground that in our lust for dominion we were indifferent 
to the question of slavery, were at the time acknowledged by the 
press of Europe. In an oration delivered in the city of New York, 
February 22d, 1862, the historian George Bancroft referred to 
this celebrated case in the following language : — " The centuries 
clasp hands and repeat it one to another ! Yesterday the sentiment 
of Jefferson, that the slave trade is a piratical warfare upon man- 
kind, was reaffirmed by carrying into effect the sentence of a high 
tribunal of justice; and to save the lives and protect the happiness 
of thousands, a slave trader was executed as a pirate and an enemy 
of the human race." 

From a genealogical pamphlet prepared by a relative of Mr. 
Smith, we learn that his father was Doctor Archelaus G. Smith, 
long an eminent physician and surgeon in Western New York, 
who with meagre advantages rose from a farmer's boy to a man of 
scientific acquirements, — assiduous, upright, and benevolent. In 
perfecting himself in his profession, he attended in the city of New 
York the medical lectures of Doctor Edward Delafield, and 
named his son after that distinguished man. 

E. Delafield Smith was born at liochester, New York, May 
8th, 1826. The family removed to the city of New York when he 
was ten years of age. " He is a New York boy," used to say old 
Alderman James Kelly, formerly of the Fourth AVard, and more 
recently Postmaster of the city, " for I have seen him roll hoop on 
the Battery and play marbles in the City Hall Park." 

lu the earliest years of the settlement of this country, the grand- 
father of Dr. Smith emigrated from England to Connecticut, being 
one of two brothers, the other of whom settled in Virginia. Both 
were planters. The names of his maternal ancestore were Preston 
and Bundy. The latter name was derived from the forest of 

lis 



HON. E. DELAFIELD SMITH. 3 

Boiidy, near Paris, the Buiidys being among the adventurers who 
accompanied William the Conqueror to England, subsequently 
turning farmers and settling in Kent. The American progenitor 
came over with Governor Winthrop in 1G30. The immediate 
ancestors of Doctor Smith fought in the American revolution, 
and he was himself a surgeon in the war of 1812. On the ma- 
ternal side, Mr. Smith is a descendant of the Boughtons, an 
English family, originially from Wales. His mother's maternal 
ancestor was a Penoyer, a family which left France for England 
in the time of Louis fourteenth, at the revocation of the edict of 
Nantes. To Robert Penoyer, Harvard University owed one of its 
early endowments ; and a scholarship in that college still belongs 
to the descendants. Jared Bough ton, Mr. Smith's maternal grand- 
father, a man of integrity, intelligence, and enterprise, emigrated 
from Old Stockbridge, Massachusetts, to the country of the 
Genesee, in Western New York. He was one of the pioneers of 
civilization in tliat region. His wife was the first white woman, 
and his eldest daughter — the mother of Delafield Smith, a woman 
of superior intelligence — the first white child ever in Victor, in the 
county of Ontario, where " Boughton Hill " was one of the oldest 
settlements. This was in 1790. Deer were then plenty, and 
bears and wolves were then often seen, in a wilderness which 
now wears no trace of savage life. A journey from Massachu- 
setts to Western New York was at that period accomplished in 
winter by sleighs, and in summer on horseback, men and women 
being borne over the streams upon the ice in January, and upon 
the saddle in July, 

During his childhood, Delafield was half the year upon the farm 
of his maternal grandfather, where he imbibed a love of rural 
scenes, of horses, and of stock which lias never deserted him ; and 
for the remainder of the year a student in one of the severest of 
seminaries, located at Pochester, where he acquired a hatred of 
the exactions of a school which ever afterward confirmed his char- 
acteristic impatience of arbitrary restraints. But he was a good 

119 



4 HON. E. DELAFIELD SMITH. 

reader, and his infant declamation, in a clmroh of that place, ut 
the age of eight, at a school exhibition, was long remembered. 

In New York, the old Quaker school of Solyman Brown, in 
Broadway, below Broome Street, the grammar school of the 
University, Coudert's French Academy at Wheatsheaf, New 
Jersey, and a New England seminary at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, 
were his haunts up to the commencement of his college course. 

Entering the New York University, under Theodore Freling- 
huysen, Tayler Lewis, Draper, Loomis, Johnson, Henry, and other 
eminent professors, he was the poet of his class, and by the 
common testimonials of both teachers and students, its best writer 
and speaker. He has since returned to this institution as a pro- 
fessor in its faculty of law. 

Graduating at the age of twenty, he pursued his legal studies, 
first with an elder brother, and subsequently in the offices of R. M, 
& E. H. Blatchford, Judge William Kent, and Judge Henry E. 
Davies. In 1848, he was admitted to the bar, and in January 
1849, commenced alone the practice of his profession. In 1851 lie 
formed a partnership with Mr. Smith Clift ; and subsequently with 
Mr. Isaac P. Martin and Mr. Augustus F. Smith — the latter being 
his brother and a man of professional distinction. Perhaps no legal 
business in the city of New York has been more lucrative than that 
in which he participated for many years in the partnership last 
mentioned. 

Four large volumes of selected judicial decisions were published 
by him from 1854 to 1859. These are widely known to the legal 
profession of the country, and are often cited, under the name of 
E. D. Smith's Reports. 

With a solid reputation as a mercantile lawyer, pecuniarily in- 
dependent, and deeply interested in public aflfsiirs, he accepted, in 
April, 1861, the position of law officer of the United States in 
New York, and at the close of a term of four years resumed the 
ordinary practice of his profession. 

With the exception of the United States District Attorneyship, 

120 



HON. E. DELAFIELD SMITH. 5 

and also excepting the use of Mr. Smith's name, in 1859, in 
connection witli the position of counsel to the corporation at New 
York, he has never accepted office nor permitted his friends to 
seek it for him. On one occasion, in 1869, the Republican Party 
of the metropolis, in a canvass confessedly hopeless, bestowed 
their full suffrages upon him for District Attorney of the State, and 
many not of his political affinities added their votes. But it has 
been his practice to decline both executive appointments and 
party nominations, frequently given or tendered, for county, legis- 
lative, judicial, and congressional positions. 

An account of the public services of Mr. Delafield Smith during 
the four years of his official term as District Attorney and Counsel 
of the United States at New York, would involve the writing of a 
judicial history of the nation during the most momentous period of 
its existence. It is simply true and just to say, that his successes 
before Courts and juries in vindicating the laws of the land were 
unprecedented. In a four years' term, for example, he procured 
six capital convictions — six verdicts involving the death penalty — 
against a number no greater obtained for thirty years immediately 
preceding his term, and none since. At the same time, no prosecuting 
officer was ever more glad to drop a prosecution the instant the 
iC'ist gleam of innocence appeared, or the moment any exercise of 
mercy seemed reconcilable with the demands of public justice. 
The young, the poor, and the first offender were often released, 
while the more powerful culprit was relentlcrisly pursued. 

. Notwithstanding the extraordinary demands of legal business 
growing out of the war, the civil litigations of the government 
and especially its revenue suits were constantly pressed, and the 
sums annually realized were matter of remark, at the time, for 
their number and magnitude. 

The office is one of multifarious duties, which cannot be 
performed by any one individual, without well-drilled assist- 
ants. Its greatest need is an organizing, administrative, execu- 
tive ability in its chief And this, among his other qualifications, 

121 



Q HON. E. DELAFIELD SMITH. 

was recognized in Mr. Smitli by all wLo had business witli the 
office. 

The condemnations procured in the cases of the British steamers 
Peterhoff, Springbok, Stephen Hart, and others, dealt a blow at 
trade with the Southern insurgents carried on through Nassau, 
Matamoras, and other intermediate points, while like forfeitures 
were inflicted upon the owners of domestic ships and cargoes at- 
temjJting to sail with similar destinations and purposes. "We pass 
with less particular mention the earlier prize cases of the Hiawatha 
and others, in which Mr. Smith, contrary to his custom, employed 
associate counsel. 

Among the celebrated cases successfully conducted, may be 
mentioned that of the rich capitalist Kohnstamm, where, witli 
valuable aid, frauds upon the Government amounting in their 
ramiiications to half a million dollars v/ere exposed, and an example 
made which saved to the national treasury millions more. We 
may also refer to the convictions procured by Mr. Smith, of John 
U. Andrews, the leader of the New York rioters in July, 1SG3 ; the 
Parkhill murderers ; the negro Hawkins, hanged for the butchery 
of a ship's master ; the Italian man-slayer, Dimarchi ; the Port 
Jervis and East New York counterfeiters ; to cases of cruelty to 
seamen, and of mutinies against officers ; convictions and forfeitures 
for frauds upon the customs and the internal revenue. 

The prosecutions under the lav/s for the suppression of the slave 
trade did not stop with the execution of the Captain of the Erie. 
The imprisonment of the merchant Albert Horn, for fitting out 
slave ships; the conviction — after juries under Mr, Smith's pre- 
decessors had twice disagreed — of Rudolph Blumenburg for perjury, 
as a surety for the discharged slave ship Orion ; the sentence of a 
number of mates ; the condemnations of the Kate, the AYeather- 
guage, the Nightingale, the Sarah, and the Augusta ; the narrow 
escape from the gallows of Haines and Westervelt, by a disagree- 
ment of juries standing nine and ten to three and two for convic- 
tions — ail taught the new lesson that seizures and arrests meant 

123 



HON. E. DELAFIELD SMITH. 7 

uir^paring prosecutions. Without enumerating; other cases, it is 
sufficient to say that in a few months the foreign slave trade "was 
forever extirpated from the port of New York. 

To the wives of Union prisoners and the v/idows of deceased sol- 
diers, Mr. Smith, throughout his term, rendered systematic and 
gratuitous services in procuring the payment of dues and pensions, 
and saving the deductions and delays of the systems of claim 
agency. 

From the age of eighteen, Delafield Smith has been widely 
known as a terse, strong, and stirring public speaker. 

The following extract from the commencement and the close of 
his published address, July lOtli, 1863, in the case of the Peterhoff, 
is a specimen of the clear and direct style in w^hich he addresses a 
legal argument to a court without a jury : 

EXTIIACT FEOM AeGUMENT TO THE CoUKT IX THE CaSE OF THE 

Peterhoff. 
" May it please the Court : — This case is clothed with profound 
interest in the public mind, both of Europe and America. It is 
brought to the bar of a court, commissioned by the government of 
a great country, and charged with the determination and applica- 
tion of international law. Not solely individuals, but nations, 
are parties to this controversy. Not alone an august judicial tri- 
bunal at Washington, but the imperial courts of a distant conti- 
nent will sit in review of the judgment which shall be pronounced 
here. Yet the testimony spread upon this record is within a nar- 
row scope. The facts marshaled before us are few. A decision 
may be reached without straining the eye in search of precedents, 
beyond such familiar adjudications as have long ago sunk to the 
level margin of an elementary treatise. It is true, indeed, that 
consequences of magnitude have become entangled in the issue. 
Put for them, the world might well wonder that so simple a 
case should have so aroused the populace of one country, and so in- 
terested the publicists of many. 

123 



•g HON. E. DELAFIELD SMITH. 

" Was the recent entcq^rise of tlie Petcrhofi' honest or fraudulent ? 
Was her voyage lawful or illegal ? Was her destination real or 
simulated ? 

"In deciding the issue involved in this capture, two classes of 
facts demand attention. First, such as are of a public character, 
too general to require specific proof, and sufficiently notorious to 
come, of their own force, within the range of unaided judicial cog- 
nizance. And, secondly, those established by the testimony taken 
m preparatorio, consisting of the responses of witnesses to the stand- 
ing interrogatories administered by the prize commissioners, together 
with such light as an inspection of t!ie ship's papers and of her 
cargo may tlirow upon the iutent of those by whom her course has 
been directed. 

" In the summer of 18GI the foundations of this land trembled 
with an earthquake of territorial war. The country was aroused 
as from a sleep. Guards, of her own appointment, still lingering 
in her high places, were prepared to trample out her life if she lay 
still, and to as.>a:3sinate her if she arose. Perjured treachery and 
audacious force viod with each other to destroy a government, 
which discovered its worst enemies amongst the most pam])ered 
and caressed of tlie children of her protection. The war was not 
for a boundary, a province, or a form of government. Its purpose, 
sorrowfully seen at homo, was to annihilate the unity and life of 
the nation. Its consequences, greedily predicted abroad, w^ere to 
open the best portion of the western hemisphere to insolent foreign 
footsteps, which periodically humiliate the States of Mexico and 
South America. It was a rising, not to overthrow tyranny, but to 
establish it. Guilty leaders and deluded communities afl'ected to 
reproduce the drama of the American revolution, making oppres- 
sion perform now the part that liberty enacted rhen. 

" Words and acts of attempted conciliation were wasted. Awak- 
ened to its own defence, the government is forced at length to the 
arbitrament of war. The Executive establishes a blockade of the 
insurrectionary ports. The Emperor of the French, dreaming of 

124 



HON. B. DELAFIELD SMITH. 9 

Iiis personal aggrandizement, and hating the principles of republi- 
can government, weaves wily aits for our embarrassment ; and 
Britain, without his excuses, green with jealousies which our ova- 
tions to her prince should have cleansed away, whets with the 
stone of national animosity the cupidity of her tradesmen. Gov- 
ernment and people, emulating each the bad faith of the other, 
hasten to confer rights npon one belligerent and to heap Avrongs 
upon the other. Ships, clad in iron, start from her docks to prey 
upon the merchant marine of a friendly power, while vessels crowd 
the harbor of New York flying the red signals of England, to the 
exclusion of the flag which was once the protection oi American 
commerce. lu doflance of the public law of the world, English 
bottoms infest our southern seas, violate the belligerent right of 
blockade, and bear food, medicines and arms to the enemies of hu- 
man freedom and of stable government. 

" Such was the situation of public affairs, when the naval forces 
and the federal courts of the United States, the one with untiring 
energy, the other with intelligent firmness, surrounded with in- 
creasing hazards the bold breaches of blockade and the wholesale 
indulgences in contraband trade, with which this unnatural conflict 
was fostered and prolonged. 

" Then cunning greed invoked frauds and subterfuges, to do by 
indirection what had proved at length too dangerous and impracti- 
cable for the open arts cf enterprise. The little harbor of ISTassau, 
in the island of New Providence; the port of Cardenas, on the 
northerly coast of Cuba, and, at last, the unfrequented region of 
Matamoras, in Mexico, are magnified into vast marts of trade, and 
become the rivals of Liverpool, Ilavre and New York. Ships of 
ponderous toimage traverse the seas and swarm in the vicinity of 
these inconsiderable places. Owners, shippers and masters, with 
remarkable eiFrontery, claim that they are centres of substantial, 
legitimate and independent trade. At the same time, the common 
sense and common knowledge of the world acknowledge that 
they are mere stopping places and ports of transhipment, by or 

125 



10 HON. E. DELAFIELD SMITH. 

through which munitions of war and articles of necessity, of com- 
fort and of luxury, may be carried from the British Isles to the in- 
surgent section of the American Union. So the British bark 
" Springbok " sets her chaste sails for Nassau. So the British 
schooner " Stephen Hart " turns an honest face toward Cardenas. 
And thus, we say, the steamer " Peterhoff" pursues her virtuous 
pathway to Matamoras. But the rough sailor follows in the track 
of each. He sees through the thin disguises. He thrusts aside the 
flimsy veil. He arrests the pretender and sends her where she 
must submit to the scrutiny of a court of justice. 

" In the light, then, of the notorious fraud, the simulation, the 
circuity, the indirection, with which this contraband trade to the 
Southern ports has been projected and persisted in, we approach 
the proofs in the case now under consideration. No intelligent 
examination of the testimony now before us can be attempted 
without a recognition of the public facts to which I have ad- 
verted. 

" Sailing imder such circumstances, it must be conceded that the 
Peterhoff, if guilty, would shroud her purpose in the depths of 
dissimulation ; and, if innocent, would fail in no mark of frankness. 
We shall observe, in the course of our inquiry, how much she has 
displayed of the one, and how little of the other." 

Want of space compels us to omit the body of the argument. 
The following are the closing sentences : 

" A vigorous administration of the public law both of blockade 
and of contraband of war, has been maintained by Great Britain in 
aid of her own wars, as well those that were mijust as those that 
were just. It is the right of nations. The American government 
will not surrender it — never, certainly, in a conflict for its exis- 
tence. It is vital to an early and thorough suppression of the 
war of insurrection which has desolated so large a portion of its 
territory. 

" Rebellion, indeed, exhibits ' waning proportions,' but it can- 

126 



HON. E. DELAFIELD SMITH. H 

not be Speedily subdued and extirpated nnless want and privation 
exhaust, while armies overthrow. We march upon an extended 
country, sparsely populated, without an}- one geographical or com- 
mercial key to its military or political pov/er. It has no Gibraltar, no 
Sebastopcl, no Paris, no London, and no New York. The end, 
indeed, is certain. The national authority will be established, 
vindicated, enlarged. But that consummation will be near or far, 
as the law of nations, violated without home rebuke by British 
tradesmen, shall be sustained and executed by judicial tribunals. 

'* The speedy establishment of freedom and order upon this con- 
tinent, and the consequent termination of a bloody war, is the as- 
piration of pariotism here, and of liumanity the world over. The 
achievement of a good so substantial and so general, may be pro- 
moted or retarded by the lessons which cases like this sball teach 
as well to the merchants and statesmen of Europe, as to the 
power which maintains, and the people who suffer from the Great 
Eebellion." 

Before a jury, Mr. Smith is earnest and impressive. On the 
trial of one of the mates of the slave ship Nightingale, before Jus- 
tices Nelson and Shipman^ the defence was represented by Charles 
O'Conor, James T. Brady, and John McKeon, who had brought out 
in the testimony the fact that the defendant was the son of a wealthy 
gentleman of Staten Island and a grandson of a former Vice-Presi- 
dent of the United States. 

Mr. Smith said : 

" Against crime clearly proved, respectability is not a valid plea. 
As regards the prisonei', his surroundings certainly furnish no ex- 
cuse for this felonious enterprise. As respects his example, they 
add tenfold to the public mischief of his acts. It is not easy to 
keep a common sailor from a slave bark, when such as he lead the 
v/ay. You can hardl}^ blame poor Jack for thrusting slaves into 
the loathsome hold, while gentlemen mates, as proved in the evi- 
dence here, keep tally on the deck ! Dissatisfied with the paternal 

127 



12 HON. E. DELAFIELD SMITU. 

home on the slopes of Staten Island, he aspires, perhaps, to huikl 
for his own pleasure, in the metropolis itself, a mansion with the 
gains of adventures which involve the transportation of human 
beings from their homes in Africa to the strange coast of Cuba, in 
stifling pens, beneath tropic suns, with the actual calculation, 
founded upon terrible experience, that if two thirds die and one 
third land, the venture is a fair success ! Might it not have 
occurred to him, that a fortune so constructed would trouble his 
future dreams with insufferable remorse ? Ought it not to have been 
plain to his intelligence, that the carved columns, the expanded 
arches, the dizzy domes of a palace so erected, would, in a future 
guilty imagination, rest, for tlreir caryatides, upon the shoulders of 
slave men, the breasts of slave women, and the bodies of slave 
children ? Oh God ! How many costly stone structures raise 
their ornamented fronts impudently to heaven, while their foun- 
dations are laid — literally laid — in hell.'' 

U})on returning to general practice, Mr. Smith achieved profes- 
sional successes against the government almost as im])ortant as 
those which he had officially gained in its favor. For instance, 
in the mercantile case of B^nkard and Ilutton against Schell, late 
collector of the customs, to recover duties paid under protest, he 
obtained from judge and jury, in the United States courts, tiie 
reversal of a class of statute-constructions immediately involving 
several millions of dollars. The treasury department, erroneously 
believing that Mr. Smith's experience in revenue law had 
taken the then district attorney at a disadvantage, demanded a 
new trial, and sent an officer from Washington to aid in the de- 
fence. The result of the second adjudication was the establish- 
ment of principles which required a still larger refund of illegally 
exacted duties. The ease is now an established precedent, and its 
just determination is matter of felicitation among the importing 
merchants of the country. The following is extracted from a 
stenographic report of the first trial; 

128 



HON. E. DELAFIELD SMITH. 13 



EXOEDIUM OF CLOSING ADDRESS TO THE JURY, BEFOEE JUDGE SMALLET, 

IN THE CASE OF BENKAED AND IIUTTON AGAINST SCHEIX, 

COLLECTOR OF THE CUSTOMS. 

^^May it please the Court, and you, Gentlemen of the Jury : — The 
dark day of battle and rebellion is ended. The lav/s, long silent, 
again lift up their voices. The national tribunals of justice, 
wearied with long contests between neutral and belligerent, once 
more give access to the citizen as well as to the government. 
Neither may now assume to be above the law. 

" With the serene reign of order and tranquillity at length re- 
etored, may we net pause for a moment to pay a passing tribute to 
those in the council and the field, to whom that restoration is due. 
And in this, shall we not remember that in the darkest days of all, 
when the national credit was almost exhausted and the national 
treasury well nigh collapsed, the one was restored and the other 
replenished by the generous action of the merchants of New 
York. 

" Shall it be said that the gratitude of the government to them 
finds its sole expression in a rude denial of legal rights on the one 
hand, and in vexatious prosecutions for penalties and forfeitures, 
sustained by unfounded imputations of fraud, on the other? 

" Shall it not rather be said, that having in vain petitioned for 
justice at governmental departments, they at last have sought and 
found it in the courts of their country ? And when that justice 
shall have been administered, may they not proudly remember 
that it was awarded by a judge who found in the circle of his 
judicial action ways efiectually to aid his country in her life and 
death struggle, and at the same time inexorably to guard against 
infraction every provision of the law and every line of the Consti- 
tution, even in the midst of the din of arms." 

» 

From the published speeches of Mr. Smith, we insert in full the 
following brief specimen of a popular appeal : 
^ 129 



14 HON. E. DELAFIELD SMITH. 

ADDRESS AT UNION SQUARE, AT THE WAR MEETING, CALLED BT HIE 

COMMITTEES OF THE NEW YORK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, THE 

COMMON COUNCIL, THE UNION DEFENCE COMMITTEE, AND 

OTHER BODIES, IN RESPONSE TO AN APPEAL OF THE 

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR 

ADDITIONAL MILITARY FORCES. 

[Extracted from a printed report of the proceedings, prepared 
under the supervision of the Secretary of the Chamber of 
Commerce.] 

" Mr. Smith, being introduced by General Fremont^ who pre- 
sided at the stand near the Spingler Institute, was received with 
great enthusiasm, and spoke as follows : 

" Men of New York : — This is, in truth, a colossal demonstra- 
tion. The eye can hardly reach the boundaries of these compact 
thousands. It would be vain for the voice to attempt it. The 
people have come in their might. They have come in their maj- 
esty. They have ' come as the winds come when forests are 
rended.' They have ' come as the waves come when navies are 
stranded.' We are here to-day, not to speak and acclaim, but to 
act and incite to action. [Applause.] "We know that this mon- 
ster rebellion cannot be spoken down ; it must be fought down. 
[Cheers.] 

" We are assembled to animate each other to renewed eiForts 
and nobler sacrifices, in behalf of our imperilled country. There is 
hardly one of us who has not, at this hour, some endeared relative 
on the bloody fields of Viiginia. The voices of our armed and suf-i 
fering brethren literally cry to us from the ground. To-day we 
hear them. To-day let us heed them. [Applause.] The call for 
fresh troops comes to us from a loved and trusted President — from 
faithful and heroic generals. [Loud cheers.] This day determines 
that it shall be answered. [Renewed cheers.] Let each act as 
though specially commissioned to obtain recruits for a sacred 
service. [Applause.] 

" Fremont is here. You have heard his voice. He has told ii8 

130 



HON. E. DELAFIELD SMITH. 15' 

to uphold our government and sustain our generals in the field. 
Whatever officer may go io battle with the President's commission, 
will be made strong by a loyal people's prayers and confidence. 
[Loud cheering.] 

" The Army and Navy, the President, the Cabinet and the Con- 
gress, have done all that can now be effected by them. The issue 
to-day is with the people. Do you ask activity on the part of the 
President? Recall his personal labor and supervision in the coun- 
cil and the field. Do you seek a policy ? Look to his solemn con- 
ference with the loyalists of the border States. [Cheers.] Do you 
demand legislation ? Witness the matured laws that Congress has 
spread upon the statute-book. A jurist, from the bench of our 
highest tribunal, once declared a maxim which shocked the coun- 
try and the world. It is ours, with our representatives, to respond : 
A rebel has no rights which a white man is hound to respect. [Loud 
and long continued cheering, with waving of hats and handker- 
chiefs.] 

" A traitor cannot own a loyalist of any raee. Nor can ' ser- 
vice be due ' to national conspirators, except at the call of public 
justice. [Laughter and applause.] 

"The limits of civilized warfare must and will be observed ; but 
those limits are broad as the boundaries of the ocean, and they lie 
far beyond the lives and the treasure of traitors in arms. [Cheers.] 
In this mortal combat between the enemies and the friends of 
republican liberty, wherein treason scruples at nothing, patriots 
must neglect no means that God and nature have placed in their 
hands. [Loud cheers.] 

" These institutions were reared on the ruins of British pride. 
Their foundations must be reconstructed on the crumble! preten- 
sions of Bouthern oligarchs. [Renewed cheers.] We must, and Vv'e 
will, repel force by force. They who press an iron heel upon the 
heart of our noble nation, must perish by the sword of her avenging 
sons. God grant the time may be near, when every rebel leader 
may say his prayers, and bite the dust, or hang as high as Hainan. 

131 



15 HON. E. DELAFIELD SMITH. 

If we are wise, and true, and brave, the American Union, like the 
sun in the heavens, shall be clouded but for a night. Still shall it 
move onward, and every obstacle in its pathway be withered and 
crushed. [Renewed and continued cheering.] 

"Victory, indeed, cannot be won, except by arms. Our institu- 
tions were the gift of the wounded and dead of the armies of Wash- 
ington. Shakespeare said, and we re-utter in a higher sense, 

• Things bought with blood must be by blood maintained.' 

" Look to our amiies, and rally the people to swell their wasted 
ranks. Go, you who can. And spare neither labor nor money to 
enable others to march to battle. [Cheei's.] 

" Let loyal men permit no question to distract or divide them. 
Care not what a man's theories may be, so that his heart feels and 
his hand works for the Union. Every citizen, North or South, 
who prays for the success of our arms, and who labors for the vin- 
dication of our Constitution, whatever may be his politics or opin- 
ions, is a patriot. [Cheers.] They who condemn any class of our 
fellow-citizens, because of difierences on collateral issues — those 
who declare that a loyal abolitionist is on a level with an armed 
secessionist — are wrong in head, or at heart unsound. [Applause.] 

" Let assertions like this be at an end. Let all loyal men, and 
all loyal journals, abandoij arguments which bear the dull and 
counterfeit ring of traitor philosophy. [Loud applause.] 

" For the rest — for those who not alone seem^ but are, disloyal — 
let the people arise in their might, and silence them all, whether 
they speak in the street to the few, or seek, through the public 
y>ress, to poison the many. Law, in many things, cannot go so far, 
nor accomplish so much, as determined public opinion. [Cheers.] 
While men in Korth Carolina and Tennessee, with manly courage, 
strike in their districts, at the hydra of rebellion, shall not we, in 
New York, war upon the spirit of secession in every form ? [Ap- 
plause, and cries of ' We will.'] The old flag must be the para- 

13ii 



HON. E. DELAFIELD SMITH 17 

mount object of all. It will be loved bj the faithful. By the 
false, it must be feared. [Vociferous cheering.] 

" They talk of a distinction between fidelity to the government 
and devotion to the administration. In the day of national danger 
or disaster, the two sentiments are inseparable. Distrust him who 
professes the one only to disclaim the other. [Applause.] "When 
the tempest howls, no prayer breathed for the ship, forgets the pilot 
at her helm. [Applause and cheers.] 

" Loyalty knows no conditions. Stand by the government ! 
Scrutinize its action ; but do it like earnest patriots — not like 
covert traitors. Stand l)y the administration! In times like 
these, party spirit should be lulled. That spirit was hushed in the 
era of the Kevolution — in the days of Madison and Monroe — and 
when the hero of New Orleans crushed the rising lorm of Nullifica- 
tion. Our fathers stood by Jackson as their sires sustained "Wash- 
ington. It is our privilege to uphold the arm of a President, great 
and pure, who will share their glory on the page of history. [Loud 
cheering.] 

" I must trespa^s no longer. [Cries of * go on, go on.'] No, fel- 
low-citizens ; I will bid you farewell. Our illustrious Secretary of 
State has this day given to the aimy the only son not already in 
the public Service. Let us emulate his spirit of sacrifice, and think 
nothing too dear to ofier on the altar of cur country. 

" Mr. Smith spoke with a clear, loud voice, and retired in the 
midst of most enthusiastic cheering." 

The following tribute to the memory of the gifted and lamented 
James T. Brady, was delivered at a meeting of the bar in New 
York, in February, 18G9, and we find it published with the pro- 
ceedings : 

SPEECH OF E. DELAFIELD SMllH ON THE DEATH OF JAMES T. BEADY. 

"Mr. E. Delafield Smith said: — Mr. President: — I know well 
that occasions like this are best adorned by those who bring to 

133 



18 HON. E. DELAFIELD SMITH. 

them the dignity of years, tlie lustre of learning, the glory of re- 
nown. And I rejoice that while the scythe of death has been busy 
in our midst, peers of our illustrious friend still remain to honor 
his obsequies. Tet it must be acknowledged that James T. Brady 
possessed characteristics, extraordinary in degree .if not in kind, 
calculated to inspire and to justify, in younger and humbler mem- 
.bers of his profession, a desire to press forward and stand among 
the foremost at his bier. 

" Juniors and even juvenals at the Bar ; aspirants upon the very 
threshold of manhood ; youths still lingering in academies and 
schools ; and little children, tender as those our Saviour caressed, 
were as dear to his presence as the most accomplished of the 
crowned intellectual princes with whom it was his pride to cope in 
.the forum, and his delight to mingle in social festivities. 

" To all who approached him in his life, rang out the welcome of 
his cheerful voice. By its dying echoes, all alike are summoned to 
his tomb. The greatest who kneel there must make room for the 
least. If, at the home so lately his, where we looked upon his face 
for the last time ; if, from the coffin, whicli was buried in flowers 
before the cold earth had leave to press it, his eyes could have 
opened and calmly viewed the scene — no floral harp, no cross nor 
crown, however beautiful or elaborate, w^ould have won a sweeter 
smile than the simplest wreath that struggled for its place in the 
general profusion. 

" Ilis khidness and courtesy were universally bestowed ; and in 
view of this, it is remarkable that they were so singularly accepta- 
ble and flattering to every individual who came within their reach. 
But they were a matter of heart, not of manner — too respectful to 
offend, too genuine to be resisted. As the generous light of the 
sun may illumine half the world, yet the rays that fall on us seem 
peculiarly our own ; so the genial glow of his kindness cheered us 
all, and yet eacb felt himself the special recipient of his favor. 

"There were times, however, when his generosity became 
marked and demonstrative. It was iuterestiuir to observe with 

134 



HON. E. DELAFIELD SMITH. 1& 

■what judgment and taste it even then was guarded and directed 
In the celebrated trial of the 'Savannah Privateers' — to which a 
preceding speaker referred with great kindness to both the living 
and the dead — where we felt the blows which he delighted to deal 
upon a prosecution, he was associated with some eminent advocates 
and also with some unknown to professional fame or experience. 
In his matchless address to the jury, he repeated, with careful 
credit, some of the arguments which these humbler allies had used, 
and paid them a tribute of praise not less just in conception than 
delicate in expression. Of four leading counsel there arrayed — 
Lord, Evarts, Brady, Larocque — three have gone to their long 
home. 

" In the prominent cases of Home and of Ilaynes, arising under 
the laws for the suppression of the slave trade, and in the great 
fraud case of Kohnstamm, it will not be easy to forget either the 
ability of his defenses, or his subsequent assurance of sympathy in 
the anxious labors which those prosecutions involved. 

" He never entered a court-room but smiles from Bench and Bar 
responded to his presence. He never appeared upon a platform 
but to be greeted by thronging auditors. ]^o banquet saw dimin- 
ished guests while he remained to speak. 

' From tlie charmed council to the festive board. 
Of human feelings the unbounded lord.' 

" A lawyer, an orator, a scholar, a gentleman — all that these 
made him was given to his country in her day of danger, and to 
the land of his ancestors in every hopeful struggle. 

" Great in intellect, great in heart — 

' See, what a grace was seated on this brow ; 
Hyperion's curls ; the front of Jove himself.* 

" Our hearts may well be touched as they rarely have been. 
Words, unless of fire — tears, unless of blood — should only mock 
their grief. 

135 



20 HON. E. DELATIELD SMITH. 

' Ye orators, whom yet our councils yield, 

Mourn for the veteran hero of your field 1 

Te men of wit and social eloquence, 

He Avas your brother — bear his ashes hence 1 

While powers of mind almost of boundless range. 

Complete in kind, as various in their change, 

While eloquence, wit, poesy, and mirth. 

That humbler harmonist of care on earth, 

Survive within our souls — while lives our sense 

Of pride in merit's proud preeminence, 

Long shall wc seek his likeness — long in vain.' 

"When 'a miglity spirit is eclipsed ' — when death comes to the 
nohle and brave, we cannot but be glad it is the common lot. We 
would not shrink forever from the dark path which they are forced 
to tread. We would not fail to seek them at last in the better 
world beyond. 

" Gentle, genial, generous spirit ! Our hearts shall long resound 
with the sweet music of the solemn Cathedral, which breathed a 
prayer for thy peace and rest. 

' Stay not thy career ; 

I know we follow to eternity I' " 

The following after- dinner speech we copy from the "Ameri- 
can Scotsman" of February, 18T0, containing a report of 
a celebration in New York of the birth of Robert Burns : — 

SPEECH ON SCOTLAND DELIVERED AT BUKNs' ANNIVEESAET DINNER. 

" The Hon. E. Delafield Smith, on being called on, responded 
to the next toast, Scotland, as follows : 

"As Daniel Webster said of Massachusetts, Scotland 'speaks 
for herself.' History and philosophy, science and learning, poetry 
and romance are steeds to the chariot of her fame as onward it 
moves from generation to generation. Like the morning it 
advances, growing brighter as it dav^^ns on each succeeding age. 

136 



HON. E. DELAFIELD SMITH. 21 

" It is a luxury to know that we may indulge in limitless praise 
of Scotland without arousing the jealousy of either of the countries 
in her immediate neighbourhood. For Englishmen and Irishmen 
will impute all her glory to the blood of their own ancestors, sown 
across the border centuries ago ! Do we not read that Saxons 
conquered the Lowlands and made them their own in the year of 
our Lord 449 ? And do we not learn that a Celtic tribe from Erin 
settled on the west coast in A. D. 503, became the dominant race, 
and even gave the very name of Scots to the Picts who 
preceded them ? (Applause.) 

" If we extol her for her Presbyterianism — that sturdy church 
which she planted on American soil — may it not afford a malicious 
delight to her rivals, as well as some special satisfaction to her 
friends — for she is always hospitable — to know that whiskey and 
ale are among her principal productions? (Langhter.) If we 
praise her salmon, her opponents may gnaw at her herrings. If 
we admire her tartan, her enemies may hang on her hemp. (Re- 
newed laughter.) If we exalt her schools, it may console her 
competitors to confess that the salaries of her schoolmasters depend 
upim the fluctuating price of oatmeal. [Continued laughter,] If 
she is the land of books, we must acknovdedge her alike the ' land 
o' cakes.' If she produces a brilliant literature, it is kind to her 
neighbors to drench it with cold ' reviews,' so that its fame shall 
not glow too brightly in the admiration of the world. If she 
launches great steamers you may still taunt her on her canal-boats. 
If she glories in her steam-engines, she yet furnishes the navies of 
the world with sails, but leaves them, it must be confessed, the 
' airs ' that swell them. 

" And here, to be serious, I cannot refrain from alluding to the 
personal manners of Scotchmen, by which they are sometimes 
prejudiced in the minds of those who fail to realize the value of 
sincerity in human intercourse. They have not the formal polite- 
ness of the English, the cordiality of the Irish, nor the suavity of 
the Frencli. But a Scotch smile is a reality. It intensely means 

137 



22 HON. E. DELAFIELD SMITH. 

all it Indicates, l^sse qitam videri. You remember the story of tlio 
Frenchman who discovered a neighbor in his carriage, and told him 
to get out. ' Sir,' said the intruder, ' you asked me to get in.' ' Ah,' 
was the mild response, ' you were welcome to the compliment, 
but I want the carriage myself.' A true Scotchman would grudge 
the politeness, but give you the drive. [Laughter and applause,] 

" No man can do justice to this steadfast, heroic, beautiful, wild 
and classic land, without recalling the valor of her historic battle- 
fields — without recounting her array of names inscribed at every 
goal of human achievement — nor without rising to a sublime 
description of her lakes and rivers, her heaths and highlands, her 
cataracts and torrents. [Chee: s.] 

" But here we approach the domain, not of eloquence, but of 
poetry ; and upon him that may not without presumption invoke 
either muse, silence is doubly imposed.' [Go on.] 

" Yes, I would not sit down without pointing to one immortal 
name on Scotland's roll of honor, to illustrate that grandest feature 
of Scottish character, intrepid integrity. I allude not now to the 
glorious humanity of Burns. I refer to his great successor, Walter 
Scott. [Applause.] My theme is not to-night the charm of his 
song, nor the witchery of his romance. I would recall your 
memory to that chapter in his biography which relates that when 
his fame was at its height aud his fortune supposed to have been 
made, the failures of certain publication -houses carried with 
them his pecuniary destruction. As endorser upon their paper, he 
was overwhelmed with debts amounting to seven hundred and 
fifty thousand dollars. Brave as Alexander, he faced his 
calamities without com])laint, and at the age of fifty-five went to 
work to retrieve them. At his death five hundred thousand 
dollars had been paid, and the remainder was in the way of speedy 
discharge. Refusing all composition or settlement, he laid down 
life on the altar of his Scotch honesty. Born in the year and on 
the day that gave the first l^apoleon birth, his courage was of 
a type that warriors might envy. [Cheers.] 

138 



HON. E. DELA FIELD SMITH. 23 

" The magnauimity of Walter Scott toward bis literary rivals 
illustrates another manly trait of Scottish character. The 
greatest of his poetical competitors was the illustrious Byron. 
Acknowledging that Byron ' bate ' him, be yet forgot an early 
thrust received in the satire, and became as kind to his brother 
poet through his life as he proved tender and just to his mangled 
memory. [Loud cheering.] And the genius of that brilliant bard 
must itself be largely credited to Scotland. For he himself says : 

' 1 am lialf a Scot by birth, and bred 

A whole one, and my heart flies to my head, — 

As ' Auld. Lang Syne ' brings Scotland, one and all, 

Scotch plaids, Scotch snoods, the blue hills and clear streams, 

The. Dee, the Don, Bal<jounie's brig's black wall, 
All my boy feelings, all my gentler dreams 

Of what I then dreamt, clothed in their own pall. 
Like Banquo's offspring. Floating past me seems 

My childhood in this childishness of mine — 

I care not — 'tis a glimps of ' Auld Lang Syne.' 

• 

And though, as you remember, in a fit 

Of wrath and rhyme, when juvenile and curly, 
I rail'd at Scots to show my wrath and wit. 

Which must be owned was sensitive and surly, 
Tot 'tis in vain such sallies to permit, 

They cannot quench young feelings fresh and early ; 
I ' scotch'd not killed ' the Scotchman in my blood. 
And love the land of 'mountain and of flood.' 

[Cheering and Applause."] 

While Delafield Smith is a sound and laborious lawyer, he is by 
no means a mere lawyer. When, in the heat of our late national 
struggle, the war department determined upon a seizure of all the 
recorded telegraphic dispatches, he was selected to arrange a 
simultaneous descent upon the telegraphic ofiSces in the city of 
New York. And the task was performed with such proficiency 
as to receive thfi commendation of the government, and at the 

139 



•24 HON. E. DEL AFIELD SMITH. 

same time with such delicacy as to induce the thanks of the 
companies for his avoidance of all public exposure of pi-ivate 
business and social sommunications. Again. When a public 
mail, made up at Liverpool, was found on the Peterhoff, and a 
special attorney of the Navy Department clamored for its 
violation and exposure in court, Mr. Smith, sinking the lawyer in 
the statesman, ordered the seals to remain unbroken. The State 
Department and also even the President himself returned to him 
their special acknowledgments for his sagacity in saving the 
country from a most awkward complication, which would have 
been likely to re^^ult in a war with England at a time when the 
rebellion was too formidable to render other entanglements at 
all safe. And again. When ships, bound for blockaded ports, 
were brought for adjudication, the ordinary process of obtaining, 
for the urgent use of the government, arms found on board, was 
slow and tedious ; but the task was habitually accomplished by Mr. 
Smith with such promptitude, as to wring from Secretary Stanton 
the " wish that the energy of the District Attorney at N^ew York 
could be imparted to every agent of the War Department.*' 

Mr. Smith has accumulated a large library of standard works 
in almost every department of science, learning, and literature. 
He delights in original editions, in unique illustrations, and in 
works of permanent value, not always so popular as to escape be- 
coming " out of print." 

He is a man of culture, of scholastic tastes, of literary dis. 
cernment and capacity,— just and generous in his dealings, true 
and honorable under all circumstances, bountiful but discriminat- 
ing in his benevolences, devoted to his home, of genuine wit and 
genial humor — though with an apparent under-current of sadness. 
A warm partizan, he has yet no acerbities. It is often remarked 
that his personal friends arc quite as numerous among political 
opponents as in the ranks of his own party. 

Perhaps no man ever carried the obligation of gratitude for 
political, professional, or personal favor, further than he ; while at 

140 



HON. E. DELAFIKLD SMITH. 25 

the same time no personal disappohitinent Rccms to lessen bis 
iriendsliip for a public man whom be has tborougbly admired, nor 
bis zeal for a cause wbicb be lias heartily espoiiscd. 

That the reader may form a judgment of his own of Mr. Smith's 
ability, we have given specimens of bis oratory. Our limits 
do not permit additional selections from liis literary and 
poetical writings. These, like bis speeches, are both stamped 
with a certain intensity and force ; and in a notice of one of his 
early poems, Mr. Bryant remarked — "the versification is un- 
commonly easy and flowing, and among the thick-coming 
fancies of the writer, are many of great beauty and brillancy." 

Mr. Smith resides in New York ; but enjoys, for more than 
merely the summer months, his country b.omc and farm at 
Shrewsbury, near Long Branch, New Jersey. 

Early in life, he married a daughter of Rev. Doctor Gilbert 
Morgan, a scholarly gentleman, of Bradford Springs, Sumter, 
South Carolina. Of their seven children five arc living. At 
Greenwood the graves of two, early deceased, bear the following 
inscription, penned by Mr. Smith : — 

With chastened pride 
We givo them bach to God to keep , 
Too grateful for their lives to weep 

That they have died. 

141 




Sinro-graplitv Bi-adv. 






DAKIEL DREW, ESQ. 

BY RKV. J. M'CLINTOCK, D. D. 

liy N a certain sense it is true that, in this age, " Commerce ia 
^}^^ King." The lives of " successful merchants " are found 
^^■^ to be subjects of story as attractive to the men of this gen- 
eration as those of monarchs or heroes. And wliy not ? There is 
no reason why the power of genius and industry should not be rec- 
ognized in the great achievements of commerce, as well as in the 
masterpieces of the pencil or the chisel, in the creations of the poet, 
the discoveries of the philosopher, or the triumphs of the sword. 
The keen sagacity, the comprehensive judgment, the ready memoi-y, 
and perhaps, more than all, the prompt and bold decision needed 
in grand commercial enterprises and combinations, are some of the 
most powerful attributes of the human mind. And when we find 
men combining these great qualities with personal integrity and an 
earnest Christian life, it is fitting, not merely that they should re- 
ceive due honor, but that their example should be held up for the 
imitation of the young. 

Mr. Drew's height is about five feet ten inches ; his form is slender, 
but lithe; his head is well shaped, with predominance in the reflect- 
ive and observing organs ; his eye is clear and keen ; his features 
strongly marked ; his general expression mild, but firm. He was 
born, July 29, 1797, at Carmel, Putnam County, New York. His 
early years were spent on the farm, and his education included 
habits of industry and frugality, with the rudiments of knowledge 
gathered at the winter country school. In 1812 his father died, 
leaving little or no property, and at eighteen the lad began business 
on his own account. Five years he spent in driving cattle 

143 



2 DANIEL DREW. 

from Patnam Coiiiity to tli3 city for sale, and at tba end of that 
tim3 ho had h\id up uo monej. But ha had gained what was bet- 
ter than monej, a thorough knowledge of the trade, and he made 
use of this knowledge in after years with great success. He had 
been converted and united with the Methodist Church in 1811 ; but 
amid the temptations and perils of the business in which he had 
embarked he lost his religious life about 181-1. Bat the godly train- 
ing of his pious mother, and the early operations of the Holy Spirit 
on his heart were never entirely forgotten ; and he was enabled to 
avoid the chief vices of men in the cattle trade, such as intemper- 
ance and profanity. In 1823 he married, and the home influences 
now brought about him aided in keeping him from evil habits and 
associations. A striking incident that occurred not long before his 
marriage made a deep and permanent impression upon his mind. 
lie had driven out, with a companion, from New York to Manhat- 
tanville, in a gig. Fastening the horse under a white-wood trop, 
they walked out into a field to examine some cattle. A storm canio 
up suddenly, and they returned to the gig for shelter. ILirdly were 
they seated, when Mr. Drew and his companion were stunned by 
lightning. When they revived, the horse lay dead before them, in 
his harness. It was a marvelous escape, and Mr. Drew has never 
forgotten it. 

In 1829 Mr. Drew removed to the city of New York, where he 
continued the cattle trade for some ten years longer. Part of that 
time he kept the old '" Bull's Head," in the B.twery, a famous resort 
of butchers and drovers, and, in fact, a sort of cattle-dealers' ex- 
change. His first ventures lay in near trade with adjacent counties 
in New York, but he and his partners gradually extended their 
field, first into Pennsylvania, afterward into the great West. They 
brought the first large drove of cattle that ever crossed the AUe- 
ghanies— two thousand head — in droves of one hundred each. The 
statistics of this trade, if we had space for them, would be full of 
curious interest. Tfie cattle were purchased in the valleys of Ohio 
and Kentucky, paid for in cash, collected in droves, and thcii brought 

144 



DANIEL DREW. 3 

over by careful hands. The transit required nearly two months, 
aud cost $12 per head, with allowance also of $12 for beef " driven 
off" in the journey. Now, cattle are brought even from Illinois in 
live or six days. The business of the old-time drover is extinct. 
The cars and steamboats bring thousands of four-footed passengers 
a day into the great metropolis. 

Mr. Drew's introduction to the steamboat business was apparently 
accidental. In 1834 Jacob Vanderbilt's steamer. General Jackson^ 
running to Peekskill, blew up at Grassy Point, and a number of 
persons were killed and wounded. A new steamer, the Water- 
toitch^ was put on the route by a friend of Mr. Drew's, Mr. H. 
Bailey, who induced liini to take a share of $1,000 in the enterprise. 
Commodore Yanderbilt — brother of Jacob — then, as now, a great 
steamboat man, built the Glnderella for his brother, and put her 
on the line against the WaterwUch. The opposition ran high ; the 
fare was reduced to a shilling ; public opinion was with the Water- 
loittih^ and she carried some six hundred passengers a day to twenty 
or thirty on the Cinderella. The Wtderwitch got great glory, and 
was welcomed daily with huzzas and uproar from thronging crowds 
at the landings ; nevertheless, at the end of the season, she was in 
debt some $10,000. Mr. Bailey was sick of the enterprise, and sold 
the steamer to Drew, Kelly & Raymond, for $20,000. A compro- 
mise was made with Mr. Yanderbilt, and the Waierwitch was run 
as a day-boat to Hartford. Her speed was a wonder for those 
times — she left ISTew York at 7 A. M., and reached Hartford by sun- 
set. In 1836 she was exchanged by her owners for the Wedche^- 
tei\ which was pitted for the season, on the ]!*s^orth River, against 
the " Hudson River line," then consisting of boats supposed to be 
the finest that ever could be built — the De Witt Clinton^ North 
America^ Ohl(\ and others, which monopolized the traffic at a fare 
of $3 to Albany. Onr older readers on the Hudson — and we have 
many of them — will remember the exciting contest of that year. 
The public support to the " opposition " was excellent ; another boat 
was needed. None could be had in New York. Yanderbilt's ad- 
10 145 



4- DANIEL DREW. 

vice was sought. " The Emerald^'' said he, " is running from Phila- 
delphia to Wilmington — you can buy her." The advice was taken 
without a day's delay ; the Emerald was bought for $26,000 ; and 
before the first of August she and the Westchester were running as 
night-l:)oats on the Hudson, crowded with passengers at $L fare. 
During the year the firni of Drew & Co. built the Rochester^ at 
a cost of $56,000, and the Hudson line the Swalloio, both admir- 
able models. But instead of competition, there was compromise ; 
the old fare was restored, and the profits were shared, to a fixed 
extent, between the two lines. To follow this extending business 
year by year would be full of interest, doubtless ; but it would 
require a volume. We must leap over a few years. Mr. Isaac 
Newton, who was largely engaged in freighting by tow-boats, had 
built in 1838 two fine steamers, the North America and South 
America. In 1840 the boats and apparatus of Drew & Co. and 
of Mr. Newton were brought together, and a joint stock company 
was formed, which purchased the entire property, and assumed the 
business. There were four or five stockholders, but Mr, Drew held 
by far the largest share. The new " People's line " was re-enforced, 
on the breaking up of the Hudson River line, by the De Witt 
Clinton^ her owner being admitted as a shareholder. For several 
years the line held almost undisputed possession of the river ; the 
boats were large, elegant, comfortable, and well managed ; the 
public were amply accomodated ; and the steamboat navigation of 
the Hudson became the praise and wonder of the world. But in 
1815 a great step in advance was taken, in the building of the 
Isaac Newton., a floating palace, three hundred feet long, with 
berths for five hundred passengers. The Nexo World, since built, 
has even grander proportions. No one who has not seen these mag- 
nificent vessels can form a just idea of their vastness, their elegance 
of finish and furnishing, and the completeness of their equipment. 
Some notion of their costliness may be had from the fact, that, in 
1857 and 1858, three hundred thousand dollars were spent in refit- 
ting these two boats with new engines and furniture. 

146 



DANIEL DREW. 5 

In 1847 Mr. George Law built the steamer Omgon^ and put lier 
on the Hudson as an opposition boat. This contest was ended by 
a contract made in partnership, by Drew & Law, to run the Kiiich- 
erbocher and Oregon to Stonington, to connect with the raih-oad 
from that point to Boston, A new and vast field for Mr. Drew's 
activity was opened, and it was so skilfully occupied, that by the 
end of 1850 a splendid line of steamers was working on this route, 
and Mr. Drew, in connection with Mr. Vanderbilt, had obtained 
possession of a preponderating interest in the Stonington railroad. 
The principle of making the interest of the traveling and business 
public to coincide with the interest of the owners of the line, which 
had been so steadily and successfully adhered to on the Hudson, 
was adopted on the Stonington route. The old Knickerbocher wag 
sold ; the Commodore and 61 Vanderbilt^ two of the finest seaboats 
ever built, were added to the line, and the public confidence wa8 
secured, and has been kept ever since, by the punctuality, safety, 
and promptitude of the entire service for passengers and freight, as 
well as for the mails. 

\\\ 1852 the Hudson River Railroad was opened, and everybody 
thought that the passenger-trade of the steamers was doomed. The 
president of tlie road had told Mr. Drew before, that, " on the open- 
ing of the road to Albany, he might bid good-bye to the steamboats." 
But these fears and predictions were very wide of the mark. So 
rapid has been the growth of the country, and so excellent and cheap 
the accommodations for travel and freight afforded by the steamers, 
that now, while thousands of passengers are carried daily by rail, 
tlie number conveyed in the steamers is greater than ever before. 

Mr. Drew's business was still more widely extended by the pur- 
chase, in 1849 — by Drew, Kelley & Robinson — of the Cham plain 
Transportation Company's stock, a capital of $150,000, with five 
steamboats, running from Whitehall to Canada. The line was ran 
successfully till 1856, when it was sold to the Saratoga and White- 
hall Railroad Company. 

Of all these varied and gigantic operations Mr. Drew has been 

147 



g DANIEL DREW. 

the master spirit. When lie first entered into the business, Mr. Yan- 
derbilt often said to him, "You have no business in this trade; you 
don't understand it, and you can't succeed." In fact, not one man 
in a hundred who has attempted tlie business has succeeded in it. 
Since 1836 there have been forty opposition boats on the river, not 
one of which has been a complete success, while many of them have 
ruined their owners. Something more than capital is needed in a 
trade like this, and that is, the personal attention, skill, and watch- 
fulness of the capitalists themselves. From the beginning Mr. Drew 
has conducted this trade on clear and well-defined principles, and 
he has had associates — especially the late Isaac Newton, Esq. — ca- 
pable of appreciating and executifig vast and thorough plans. One 
rule of the line is to choose the hest man that can be found for each 
post, and then to keep him. The captain of the Nexo World has 
been in the service-since 1834, and many of the other employees have 
had very long terms. Another rule is to keep the boats ahvays hi 
perfect 07'der. No break in wood or iron is allowed to go a day un- 
repaired ; the paint is kept fresh ; the brass is shining ; the ropes 
are in order ; in short, every thing is in its place, and not only fit 
for use, but in the highest state of eflaciency. A tliird rule is, that 
no law of the service shall be broken with impunity. In this re- 
spect the regime of the lines is despotic; ever}' officer knows tliat 
while faithful he will be cherished and rewarded, but that careless- 
ness or neglect will be fatal to his prospects. The best proof of the 
skill and wisdom with which these great steamboat lines have been 
conducted can be given in one sentence: no traveler has ever lost 
his life by accident on any steamer of which Mr. Drew has had con- 
trol ! When it is remembered that he has been in the business for 
a quarter of a century, and during part of that time more largely 
engaged in it, perhaps, than any single man in the world, the fact 
appears wonderful indeed. So far as we know, it is entirely with- 
out parallel in the history of steamboat navigation. 

Mr. Drew has never insured his steamboat property. His motto 
is, that vigilance and just outlays on the service are the best insur- 

148 



DANIEL DREW. 7 

iance. The result has justified his sagacity. Insurance would have 
cost him near half a million in twentj^ years ; his losses by accident 
have been covered by little more than a tenth of that sum. 

The business above sketched would be sufficient, one would think, 
to occupy all the time and tlioughts of any man, however eminent 
in capacity. But it has only formed one department of Mr. Drew's 
activities. About the year 1836, to give occupation to another per- 
son, he embarked a small capital in the banking business in Wall 
Street. His partner indorsed the extension notes of a friend with- 
out consulting Mr. Drew, which caused a loss of over $30,000. In 
1840 he associated with himself Nelson Robinson and R. W", Kelley, 
under the firm of Drew, Robinson & Co. Mr. Robinson had no 
capital, but his character and talent had been well tested by Mr. 
Drew in a previous business connection. The details of the busi- 
ness were conducted by the junior partners, but its leading opera- 
tions were controlled by Mr. Drew. The success of the firm was 
remarkable; indeed, no large operation of the house, except one, 
ever turned out a mistake. The single exception was a loan of near 
a million to a Trust Company in 1816, a loan nuide — in deviation 
from the general rule of the house — contrary to Mr. Drew's advice. 
Even in that case the securities for the loan — which included a 
mortgage of a Western railroad — have been so well managed, that 
no ultimate loss is apprehended. 

In 1853, w^ishing to contract his cares and labors, Mr. Drew re- 
tired from the banking business, giving it up to his son-in-law, Mr. 
Kelley. The house was then as strong in position aiid character as 
any in Wall Street. In one year Mr. Drew was called back from 
his country seat by the death of Mr, Kelley, and had to take up 
the threads of finance again. Acting on his old principle of using 
well-tried agents, he took into partnership, in 1855, Mr. E. B. Stan- 
ton, who had been one of his clerks. What its success has been no 
one knows, we suppose, outside of the firm. But the name of the 
house on a piece of paper gives it currency for more thousands than 
would build a Western city. Indeed, the single name of Daniel 

149 



g DANIEL DREW. 

Drew, indorsed on the acceptances of the Erie E,aih-oad in 1855, to 
the extent of a million and a half of dollars, suthced to guarantee 
their value and to give them currency. Tliese acceptances were 
duly met. In the summer of 1857 Mr. Drew was called upon again 
to indorse acceptances to the same amount — a million and a half — 
and again the money was procured on the credit of his single name. 
The financial crash came a few months after, and a man of great 
nerve might well have trembled, in such a time of universal panic, 
at a responsibility so enormous. But Mr. Drew never flinched — 
the acceptances were known to be safe, with his name on them, in 
spite of panic and pressure ; and, as they came due, they were all 
paid oif or renewed. They are all now liquidated. A friend asked 
Mr. Drew, in the height of the panic, whether he " could sleep in 
these times T' "I have never lost a night's rest, on account of 
business, in my life," was the reply. 

In 1857 Mr. Drew was elected a director of the Harlem Rail- 
road. The property was in a very depressed condition, and the 
floating debt amounted to over $600,000. Mr. Drew and Mr. 
Vanderbilt indorsed the acceptances of the road to pay ofi" this 
debt. The new directors changed the policy of the road; an 
energetic and capable man, Mr. Campbell, was made President, 
and the floating debt was paid oif by an issue of second mortgage 
bonds. The profits of the road now pay interest on all its bonds, 
leaving a surplus to be applied to repairs, renewal of the track, etc. 
After long adversity, this vast property now gives promise of being 
regularly productive, and there is a chance that its stockholder 
may some day begin to get some return for tlieir outlays. 

Amid all the cares of this vast and varied business, Mr. Drew 
has found time for practical agriculture. In this, as in his other 
pursuits, he has succeeded. He lias an estate of nearly a thousand 
acres, about fifty miles distant from the city, on the Harlem Rail- 
road. His lands are mostly grazing farms, on which Western cattle 
are fattened for market. In 1858, out of one hundred and twenty 
cattle eold from the estate, one hundred weighed a thousand pounds 

150 



DANIEL DREW. 9 

each in the beef, and brought $100 a head. The farmers are allowed 
their homes and various perquisites for the care of the cattle, etc., 
and their interest is made to coincide with that of the owner. 

It has already been stated that Mr. Drew was converted and 
had joined the Methodist Church in 1811. But the " cares of this 
world clioked the word " and he " became unfruitful," For twenty- 
five years he lived '• without God in the world," though not without 
a certain degree of moral restraint. In 1839 he removed into 
Bleecker Street, I^ew York. The "Mulberry Street Church," then 
but a few years old, stood opposite his house, and he attended w^or- 
ship there occasionally, simply because it was " convenient." In 
1841, during the pastorate of the Rev. James H. Perry, a protracted 
meeting was held in the cliurch. Mr. Drew began to attend at 
niglit from curiosity. Under the earnest and faithful preaching of 
the Gospel many souls were touched ; the Spirit of God was pow- 
erfully poured forth upon the people. Mr. Drew heard the divine 
voice and obeyed. After going to the altar some eight or ten times, 
he was reclaimed from his sins, and received the seal of forgiveness. 
Yery soon after, his wife was brought in, and both united with the 
church. lie soon began to take part in the service of the church, 
praying in the class and prayer meetings, and ready to " wait upon 
tlie Lord" in any capacity in which he could be useful. 

For many years he has been a trustee of Mulberry Street Church 
— now St. Paul's ; and his money and time have always been at 
the service of the church in which he was brought to know again 
the " peace of the Lord Jesus." At his country home he is also 
steward and trustee. Some years ago a church was built on his 
home farm, under the direction of his daughter, Mrs. Clapp. It is 
a tasteful structure, neatly furnished throughout, and capable of 
seating from one hundred and lifty to two hundred persons. A few 
years ago there was a gracious revival here, and many souls were 
converted. In the rear of the church is a school-room, also got up 
and furnished by Mrs. Clapp, with a library, maps, etc. A classical 
fecliool has been kept up for several years, and the neighbors have 

151 



10 DANIEL DREW. 

the privilege of tliorougli training, gratis^ for tlieir children. The 
.church and school cost about $6,000, and the annual cost to Mr. 
Drew is about $1,500 a year, Mrs. Clapp — who is a Baptist — 
superintends the Sunday school, and her husband, the Rev. Mr, 
Clapp, of the Baptist Church, unites with the circuit preachers in 
filling the pulpit of the chapel. All Mr. Drew's children and grand- 
children over fifteen years of age, are menibers of the church — 
either Methodists or Baptists — a striking instance of the power of 
Christian example and of a well-ordered and godly household in 
counteracting the corrupting influence of wealth, 

Mr. Drew has been for several years a trustee of the Wesleyan 
University, and of the Biblical Institute at Concord, to both of which 
he has been a patron and contributor. He is also a trustee of the 
Troy University, To him, and to a number of other noble Christian 
men in St. Paul's Church, New York, the church is indebted for 
examples of missionary contribution in some degree befitting the 
cause of Christ and the duty of Christians in this age. As might be 
expected, a man of his wealth is called upon for every charity and 
public movement in the city, and for ven- many out of it. Yet we 
believe that none go empty away, who bring a valid and substantial 
claim for his assistance. 

The foregoing sketch, by Dr, McClintock, brings the biography 
of Mr, Drew down to the year 1860. Since that time ho has been 
extensively engaged in business, has prosecuted many important 
enterprises with characteristic intelligence and energ}', all of which 
have been crowned with signal success. Meanwhile his acts of 
benevolence and philanthropy have been multiplied until the amount 
bestowed aggregates an enormous sum, exceeding that given by any 
other individual iu the country for the cause of education and the 
promotion of religion and piety. His benefiictions have been spon- 
taneous, the suggestion of his abounding liberality without osten- 
tation or the hope of an}' other reward than an approving conscience 
and the satisfaction of improving and elevating the condition of his 
fellow-men. In 1866 he built a Methodist church in his native 

152 



DANIEL DREW. U 

town, and endowed a school in connection tlierewlth, at a cost in all 
of two hundred and ninety thousand dollars. The following year 
he built and established the Drew Theological Seminary, in Madison, 
New Jersey. This costly gift involved an expense of six hundred 
thousand dollars. About this time he made a donation to the Wes- 
leyan University at Middletown, Connecticut, of a hundred thou- 
band dollars, after having made the institution several presents iu 
money besides, amounting in all to about twenty thousand dollars. 

He has given liberally to different churches in the South- and 
West, and to St. Paul's Church in Fourth Avenue, New York, he 
donated the handsome sum of thirty thousand dollars. 

In addition to the numerous steam-vessels, enumerated by Dr. 
McClintock, as having been put upon the Hudson by Mr, Drew, he 
has since built the jSf. John^ the Dean Richmond^ and the Drew^ 
three as beautiful specimens of nantical architecture as float upon 
our waters. 

Our sketch of Mr. Drew is necessarily brief and imperfect. The 
plan of the pul)lishers precludes that fullness of detail which is 
necessary to a complete presentation of the attributes of this extra- 
ordinary man, Mr. Drew is still in robust health, and apparently 
has many years of active labor before him. His various enterprises 
have added lai-gely to the wealth and prosperity of New York, and 
ill this sense he has been oiic of the benefactors of the metropolis. 
But he has been a benefactor, in a far higher and nobler sense, in 
aff'ording an example of industry, energy, and business talent of 
the highest order, combined with a sense of personal honor, and 
nnimpeachable integrity. In the church, his modest but steadfast 
testimony, given in the class-room, the prayer meeting, and the 
love-feast, has been of incalculable value, especially to yonng men 
of business. May he long be spared to enjoy the fruits of his in- 
dustry, and to share in advancing the kingdom of Christ on earth, 
not merely by his Christian use of the large wealth of wdiich God has 
made him the steward, but also by his personal services to the church 
and by his living example of peaceful and yet active piety ! 

153 



JOHI:^ TAYLOR JOHNSTOJ^. 







*HE subject of this sketch was born of wealthy parents, in 
the city of New York, on the 8th of April, 1820. His 
father was Jolm Johnston, of the well-known firm of 
Boorman and Johnston, one of our stanchest merchants, respected 
both in our own land and in Europe for his business integrity and 
enterprise, and for his Christian benevolence and patronage of 
learning. His mother, who still lives to exemplify the Christian 
virtues in a vigorous and cheerful old age, was the daughter of 
John Taylor, another merchant of the antique stamp, whom we 
trace back into the Revolutionary war for the independence of our 
country. From his parents, John Taylor Johnston inherited a vig- 
orous constitution and an even temper ; and from them he received 
such wholesome counsels — -moral, religious, and intellectual — 
as are best fitted to start a boy on a successful career. His success 
in life may be traced to these primary causes as easil}'- as a river to 
its sources in the springs and rivulets of hills and mountains. 

Both his parents were of Scotch ancestry, and it was not strange 
that they should wish their first-born son to have the benefit of the 
bracing air and the vigorous instruction of old Scotland. Accord- 
ingly, at the age of twelve, while on a visit to their native land, 
they placed him at the High School of Edinburgh, where he re- 
mained a year and a half, receiving such stimulus to his Scotch 
blood and laying up such pleasant stories for future reminiscence, 
that he has ever since been known for his love of " the land o' cakes." 

At the age of nineteen, he graduated at the University of the 
City of New York, in tlie class of 1839. He was regarded as one 
of the best scholars in his class. Choosing the legal profession ho 

155 



2 JOHN TAYLOR JOHN ST02s^. 

at once entered the Law School of New Haven, and subsequently 
the office of Daniel Lord in New York City, in both of wliicli he 
showed the same application and industry whicli had characterized 
him at the university, an example rare enough among the sons of 
wealthy parents. In liis studies he doubtless laid the foundation of 
liis success as a business man, by the formiation of those habits of 
patient inquiry, assiduous attention, and untiring perseverance, 
which, reguhited by nietliod and system, giveliim absolute command 
of all his faculties and of all his time. In the investigation of a 
subject, nothing seems to escape his observation which could liave 
the least bearing on the case. 

He was admitted to tlie* bar in 1843. Soon afterward he went 
abroad, and continued traveling in Europe during two years or 
more, when he returned to New York and resumed the practice 
of law. 

Another course was, liowever, marked out for him ; for " there 
is a divinity which shapes our ends, rough hew them as we will." 
And little by little he loosed himself from the law, for pursuits 
more congenial to his constructive tastes, until the spring of 18-48, 
when, at the early age of twenty-eight, he took the presidency of 
the Central Railroad of New Jersey. This railroad, then known 
as the Elizabethtown and Somerville Railroad, w^as at that time 
only a few miles long, and struggling for existence. It now reaches 
from its , extensive station-grounds and princely property on the 
Hudson river, opposite New York, across the State of New Jersey 
to Easton, Pennsylvania, where it connects with the net- work of 
railways ramifying through the anthracite coal-fields of Pennsyl- 
vania, all built since and in connection with the main road ; and in 
the construction of most of which Mr. Johnston was largely and 
actively interested. The stimulus given to the coal trade has been 
60 great, that the products of the Lehigh, Lackawanna, Wyoming, 
and companion coal-fields have risen from less than 5,000,000 
tons in 1852, when the road was opened to Easton, to nearly 
16,000,000 tons in 1870. A great impetus was also given to 

156 



JOHN TAYLOR JOHNSTON. 3 

business between the West and New York bv the subsequent 
opening over this road of a new and shorter line than any in 
existence ; and the benefits derived from the Allentoitm Live 
will long be felt, though the company have now, in a measure, 
abandoned the through trade for more profital)le business. The 
local business of the line has always received great attention 
from Mr. Johnston, and under his fostering care the country 
has improved with great rapidity. Towns have grown into cities, 
villages into towns, and new settlements are constantly springing 
up. The almost unexampled growth of Plainfield, his summer 
residence, and where he is the largest landed proprietor, shows the 
stimulus given by his presence. As much of the road is a tangent 
line, two parallel highways have been planned and opened, 
affording unrivalled facilities for reaching the railway stations, as 
well as giving base-lines for improvements, and enabling the com- 
pany to do away with many dangerous level crossings. Great 
changes are always made by a railroad ; but it would be difficult 
to find a road which has produced as many and great changes as 
this has caused ; and still more difficult Avould it be to find one 
more deservedly popular with all those who depend upon its facili- 
ties. The courtesy'' shown to all by its chief is followed by the 
subordinates, and few complaints of incivility are heard, and fewer 
still left unattended to. 

Considering how much Mr. Johnston's business life has been 
identified with the anthracite coal trade, it is somewhat of a coin- 
cidence that the vei'y first shipment to market of hard coal (or sto)ie 
coal as it was then called) was made in 1820, the year in which he 
was born. 

In connection with this railway and resulting from the necessary 
purchases of water front when the road was carried to the Hudson, 
opposite New York, Mr. Johnston has projected a vast system" of 
wharfs, basins, and docks, involving an extensive reclamation of 
lands on the Jersej' Flats, on the plan of raising the reclaimed 
parts above water with the mud dredged from the slips and basins. 

157 



4 JOHN TAYLOR JOHNSTON. 

In this way, wliile no appreciable injurj'^ will be done to the har- 
bor of New York, almost boundless facilities can be provided for 
commerce. Thus a great work has already been done, and exten- 
sive facilities provided for the railway and for general commerce ; 
but the whole plan is too large for one generation, and is only 
intended for execution as the business of New York and of the 
road shall require. 

In 1850 Mr. Johnston was married to the daughter of James 
Colles, of New Orleans. His head and heart were in their usual 
harmony in the affair, and hence he was as fortunate in this, as in 
all his other transactions, and has been eminently happy in this 
relation for the very best reasons in the world. In all his domestic 
relations he has ever been, and is, among the most fortunate of 
men. Having all that the affections can impart, together with all 
the adornments which wealth and taste can add to make home 
happy, his well-regulated household affords him the purest enjoy- 
ment and recreation after the cares of the day. At his business he 
seems to have no heart and no time for any thing else but the par- 
ticular business on hand ; at home he seems to have devoted all his 
time and all his heart to his family. 

His library is among the best private libraries in the city, and 
his picture-gallery is scarcely surpassed by any in the country. 
Here among the choicest paintings of the best artists stands that 
gem of the sculptor's art, Cleopatra, by our native Story. 

Such are the sources of enjoyment for himself and friends which 
Mr. Johnston has provided in the midst of his busj' life. The fine 
arts have seldom found a more devoted friend in our country ; and 
it is a great part of his pleasure to have his friends participate in 
his happiness. Every fifth year it is his custom to invite his uni- 
versity classmates to a dinner at his house, and his friendships have 
ever been uniform, pleasant, and constant. 

The University, his Alma Mater, has had good reason to rejoice 
in his friendship. His father was one of its founders and largest 
benefactors, and the son has not been less devoted to its interests 

158 



JOHN TAYLOR JOHNSTON 5 

than tlie father whom he succeeded as vice-president of its Coun- 
cil. The father's portrait liangs on the walls of its council-chamber, 
and the son's name is inscribed on the Law Library as its donor. 
Its Alumni Association owes its vitality to his liberal attention, and 
for a long time has annually re-elected him its president. 

His Scotch proclivities crop out in a friendly way. For thirty 
years he lias been a genial member of the St. Andrew's Society, 
and has held all its otiices in regular rotation. He enjoys " auld 
acquaintance" and "auld langsyne" prodigiously, and has not the 
least objection in the world to " whang at the bannocks of barley 
meal." - 

Lie is also a member of numerous boards and committees of 
benevolent, literary, and business institutions ; in all of which he 
performs his duties punctually and faithfully. No office with him, 
great or small, is a sinecure. If he thinks a thing worth doing, he 
does it ; otherwise he has nothing to do with it. What he does, he 
does thoroughly. 

Notwithstanding all these various labors and enterprises, he has 
found time to gratify his scholarly tastes and to keep up with the 
current literature of the day; and at intervals has made several 
visits to Europe with his family. 

Mr. Johnston is well known as a liberal contributor to the various 
religious and benevolent institutions. In this he follows in the 
steps of his noble-hearted father, whose maxim was, " Giving does 
a inan good f and whose benefactions are like orchards which yield 
fruit long after tlie men who planted the trees are dead. He exer- 
cises caution in this as in other matters, and always inquires before 
he gives, so as to be sure that his giving shall do others as much 
good as himself. The writer of this remembers hearing him say, 
full twenty-five years ago, ''^ I consider it just as mtich my duty to 
give to these benevolent institutions as to ])ay my hutcher'^s hillsP 
Giving seems to have done him no hurt, but good, as it did his 
father before him. 

His wealth has steadily increased. It has accumulated on his 

159 





i 




JAMES E. El^GLISH. 

BY T. N. PARMELEE. 

'^'^-■^^^ 

"iKBpllE nian who sprinj^s from no ele%'ated rank in life, and 
JlJl ^ , . . . . 

^r^i becomes opulent, and of high social consideration, hy 

^ ^ dint of his own unaided efforts — and if to that be added 
high political preferment and offices of responsibility and power, 
conferred s})ontaneously by those who appreciate his worth — has a 
higher claim upon popular admiration, every thing else being equal, 
than one of aristocratic lineage and ancestral estate. We are not 
of those who unduly magnify indigence and toil, and regard self- 
made men as pre-eminently worthy of the respect and confidence 
of the community. On the contrary, we hold early advantages, 
careful nurture in childhood, and a thorough training, which is so 
much more effective in youth, as blessings of incalculable value, 
and for whose absence there is no adequate compensation. What 
we mean is, that the man of humble origin, whose industry, 
energy, and power of will have enabled him to surmount those 
drawbacks and place himself on the same plane with his more 
favored contemporary, commands our good opinion in a higher 
degree, in so far as we are better assured of his capacity to pro- 
mote the good of his fellows, in the senate or the executive council, 
or in the walks of every-day life. The artificer of his own fortune 
has a clearer perception of what is due to others than tlie man 
who inhei-ited what he possesses, and he Ijas a more active and gen- 
erous sympathy for those who are struggling to make their way in 
the world. A truly representative man of this class is James E. 
English, the present governor of the State of Connecticut. His 
ancestor, Benjamin English, removed from Salem, Massachusetts, 
to New Haven, early in the last century, and the family have ever 

163 



2 JAMES E. ENGLISH. 

siuce resided there. Thej liave always held a respectable position 
in society, and enjoyed the general respect and esteem of their 
contemporaries. This was especially true of James English, the 
father of the governor. He acquired a competent estate and reared 
a large family, comprising six sons and three daughters, all of 
whom lived to years of maturity. The sons were prosperous busi- 
ness men in the place of their nativity. The grandfather of Gov- 
ernor English, Captain Benjamin English, was a shipmaster, and 
commanded several vessels plying between New Haven and 
foreign ports. During the Presidency of Mr. Jefferson he was 
appointed to an ottice in the custom-house of his native town, 
which he held up to the time of his death, in 1807. The father of 
Captain English was killed by the British troops under General 
Tryon, who invaded Connecticut in 3779. And it may be added 
here that both the governor and his paternal ancestors have been 
uninterruptedly identified with the Democratic party since the 
organization of the govern ujent under the Federal Constitution. 

The educatiomd advantages enjoyed b}' the subject of our sketch 
were limited to the rudimental teachings common to the schools of 
the day. That they were circumscribed, is attested by the fact that 
they were interrupted at a period of his life when the tender mind 
is most susceptible to instruction. 

Mr. English gave evidence in his early j^outh of that remarkable 
self-reliance and independence of thought and action which have 
distinguished him, in his private as well as public life, from childhood 
to mature age. It has been his uniform habit to think and act for 
himself under all circumstances. He has always been firm and 
decided, without obstinacy persistent and determined, without 
rashness or presumption.. From the time when, a mere child, he 
insisted upon earning his own livelihood, and obtained his father's 
reluctant consent to strike out a course for himself, and engaged to 
labor on a farm some thirty miles from home, and through all the 
various enterprises by which he accumulated an ample fortune, he 
relied on his own resources, and prosecuted his extended business 

16J: 



JAMES E. ENGLISH. $ 

with that intelligence, activity, and perseverance, which could not 
fiiil to command success, and all by his own unaided exertions. 
When about to embark in the lumber trade, a wcaltliy friend, who 
appreciated his capacity, integrity, and aptitude for the manage- 
ment of an extended business, offered to advance a large sum of 
money and become interested in the transactions — the industry and 
intelligence of Mr. English to constitute an equivalent for the cap- 
ital to be invested. This proposition, although a liberal one, he 
gratefully declined, preferring to work out his fortune himself. 

He remained away from home for two years, diligently assisting 
in the labors of the farm, when he returned to his parents. He 
attended school for two years after he came back, devoting himself 
specially to the study of architectural drawing, in which he became 
signally proficient. He was then apprenticed to a master carpenter, 
and during his term of service made plans for several conspicuous 
edifices in New Haven, some of which still remain as ornaments of 
the city. 

On attaining his majority, in 1S33, he immediately became a mas- 
ter-builder, and continued that pursuit for two years with great suc- 
cess. For a period of more than twenty years he was engaged in the 
himber trade, both in New Haven and Albany. During this time 
he became the owner of several vessels, and established a freight 
line between New Haven and Albany, and Piiiladelphia. He 
prosecuted this ext>Bnsive business with his accustomed intelligence 
and energy, and his exertions were rewarded with ample returns. 

For the last fifteen years he has been interested in large manufac- 
turing establishments in different parts of the State, to the number 
of fifteen, to which he has given much time and attention. He 
has been the principal manager of the business of the New Haven 
Clock Company, the largest concern of the kind in the world; and 
in that capacity has visited Europe three several times to promote 
the sale of its wares. On the last occasion he remained abroad 
nearly a year, making a complete tour of Europe. He is also 
president of the Goodyear Metallic Rubber Shoe Company, one 

] Go 



4 JAMES E. ENGLISH. 

of tlic largest establishments of the kind in the United States, 
and an active director in several other large and well-managed 
companies, all successfully prosecuting their several branches of 
industry. 

As a business man he is distinguished for practical sagacity, fore- 
cast, and sound judgment. In the numerous enterprises with 
which he has been connected, his penetration and discernment 
have rarely been at fault, and his associates have always accepted 
liis suggestions and advice with unhesitating confidence. The re- 
sult is seen in the large fortune he has acquired, and which he un- 
ostentatiously and quietly enjoys, dispensing a liberal hospitality, 
and bestowing large sums upon charitable and philanthropic 
objects, as well as aiding industrious and deserving young men to 
successfully establish themselves in business. And it is worthy of 
mention, in this connection, that his entire wealth has been the result 
of legitimate business transactions, Mr. English never having been 
a '* speculator " in any sense of the word. 

The connection of Governor English with political life dates 
back more than twenty years, and during that period he has been 
constantly in some public employment. Being a man of innate 
modesty, and never seeking distinction or notoriety of any kind, 
offices of every description have been thrust upon him, frequently 
against his wishes, and occasionally in spite of his earnest remon- 
strances. He was for many years in the municipal councils of his 
native city and town, and also a member of both branches of the Le- 
gislature, having been elected to the Senate for several successive 
years. He was chosen a member of Congress in 18G1, and again in 
1 863, serving through the first four years of the Rebellion. He was 
on the Committee on Naval Affairs in the 37th Congress, and so effi- 
cient and valuable were his services in that capacity, and so highly 
were they appreciated by the Navy Department, that upon the 
coming in of the next Congress, a new organization of the Naval 
Committee involving some changes as a matter of course, and Mr. 
Colfax, in advance of being chosen speaker, having promised to sub- 

166 



JAMES E. ENGLISH. 5 

(^titate Mr. Brandagee, a Ilepu])Hcan from the New London Dis- 
trict, in place of Mr. English, Mr. Welles personally and earnestly 
solicited the retention of Mr. English, stating that it was highly 
important that his services should be retained as a member of that 
committee. He served on the Committee on Public Lands in the 
38th Congress. Though an earnest Democrat in principle and 
from conviction, he zealously supported the war measures of the 
administration, voting for the abolition of slavery in the District 
of Columbia, and for the I^ational Emancipation Act. He, how- 
ever, opposed the Legal Tender Bill and the National Bank system. 
He foresaw the pernicious tendency of those measures, and the 
arguments by which he resisted their passage have never been 
answered, while the disastrous effect upon the industrial and 
commercial interests of the country attests tJie soundness of his 
reasoning. Although possessing large manufacturing interests to 
be benefited by class legislation, he has ever been a strenuous 
opponent of protection for the sake of protection, and a warm 
advocate of all measures of revenue reform! 

He was chosen governor in 1867, carrying the election by his 
personal popularity, at a time when nearly every State in the Union 
was under the domination of the Republicans, thus giving the 
first check to the usurpations of that powerful organization, and 
turning back the tide of fanaticism. He was re-elected in 1868, 
and again in 1870. And it is no more than justice to him to say, 
that the present prosperous condition of the great Democratic 
party throughout the country and its steadily increasing strength, 
are in a large measure to be ascribed to the revolution in Connec- 
ticut which Governor English inaugurated and conducted to a 
triumphant consummation. He is a firm believer in the right of 
the States to manage their own domestic concerns in their own 
way, and the points made by him, in his several messages and other 
State papers, in defense of this right, have been most felicitously 
put, and never successfully answered. 

He was nominated as one of the Presidential electors of the 

167 



Q JAMES E. ENGLISH. 

State at large in the campaign of 18G8, and was a conspicuous 
candidate for the Presidency before the Democratic National 
Convention. 

Governor English has taken an absorbing interest in the cause 
of education, having repeatedly urged upon the Legislature, in his 
official capacity, the establishment, of a system of education which 
should open the schools to every child in the State without distinc- 
tion, and free of all charge for tuition. And nothing but his perse- 
vering exertions and great personal influence could have overcome 
the strong opposition with which the proposition was received on 
its inception. And the indigent people of Connecticut, whose 
oH'spring have free access to the excellent schools of the State on 
the same footing as the children of the opulent, owe that inestimable 
privilege to the wise benevolence and enlightened statesmanship 
of Governor English. He may justly claim the distinction, accorded 
him by the friends of education throughout the State, of being 
" the father of the free-school system," while his valuable services 
in the higher walks df instruction have been recognized in his 
appointment as one of the councilors of the Sheffield Scientific 
School connected with Yale College. 

Having summed up the most conspicuous events of his life, and 
referred, although superficially, to his public career, it only remains 
for us to present a hasty and imperfect view of the attributes of 
his character and the estimation in which he is held by those among 
whom his days have been spent, and whoare qualified to appreciate 
his excellence and the beneficent influence which he has constantly 
exerted upon society. 

As a man of sound sense and practical wisdom in all that re- 
lates to the every-day concerns of life, Mr. English is pre-eminent 
among his fellows. He is a man of quick perception, fine faculties, 
with a power of generalization quite extraordinary in one of his 
habits of life. His reasoning powers are uncommon, and he 
has a ready, thorough appreciation of the force of an argu- 
ment presented in a controversial discussion. He makes no pre- 

168 



JAMES E. ENGLISH. 7 

tensions as a scholar, bat lie writes fluently and with precision, 
conveying his meaning in terse and well-chosen language. He has 
great executive ability, and the functions of his high office are 
performed with that degree of skill, intelligence, and integrity 
which insures a successful administration. He is liberal, philan- 
thropic, and gives freely of his large wealth in aid of every charity 
and every well-directed public enterprise. He enjoys the unmixed 
respect and esteem of his neighbors, and has troops of warm friends 
to whom he has endeared himself by countless acts of humanity 
and kindness. He has a sound constitution, is full of activity and 
vigor, of regular, abstemious habits, and leads a blameless life, illus- 
trated by intelligent benevolence and warm-hearted friendship. 

169 




/^J^. 




HON. "WILLIAM Ij KE LLE^ 
■.PRESENTATIVE TB-OM FEin-t SYLVAMIA 




HOR WILLIAM D. KELLEY. 



'HE Republican party is the legitimate heir of the old Fed- 
eral and Whig parties — the parties of Washington and 
Webster — which, in the ancient and medieeval periods of 
tlie Republic, as they may be termed, illustrated the sentiment and 
the idea of nationality as opposed to tlie heresy of State sovereignty. 

There is, nevertheless, flowing in tlie veins of this great Repub- 
lican organization much of the best blood of the old Democratic 
party. The men who adopted the political teachings of Jefferson, 
the author of the Declaration of Independence, and the inspirer of 
tlie ordinance of 1789, who heartily believed the great American 
doctrines of the freedom and equality of all men, and the power 
and duty of the nation to protect the national domain from the 
pollution of human slavery, passed, by a natural transition, into 
the Republican ranks when the Democratic party abandoned the 
faith of its fathers, and became the embodiment of a " creed out- 
worn." 

Among the men of the Democratic party who earliest separated 
from " its decaying forms," and contributed to organize a new 
party, in the light of truth and reason, on the basis of inherent, 
inalienable right, was the subject of this sketch — William Darrah 
Kelley. 

He was born in the Northern Liberties of Philadelphia, on the 
12th of April, 1814. His grandfather, Major John Kelley, was a 
native of Salem county, New Jersey, and served throughout the 
Revolution as an officer of the Continental line. The son of this 
Revolutionary officer, and the father of the subject of this 
memoir — David Kelley — removed from New Jersey to Philadelphia, 



2 WILLIAM D. KELLEY. 

where lie married a lady of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Miss 
Hannah Darrah. The cloud of linaneial emban-assment which, at 
the close of the war of 1812, darkened the horizon, cast its deep 
shadow over the fortunes of Mr. Kelley ; and by his death, in 
1816, his widow was left, without an estate, to support and educate 
a dependent family of four children, the youngest of whom — 
William — was but two years of age. Mrs. Kelley struggled nobly 
and well to fuliill this great trust, and lived to witness the consum- 
mation of her most ambitious hopes in the prosperity and advance- 
ment of her distinguished son. 

At eleven years of age, it became necessary that William should 
earn his own living. He accordingly left school, and became an 
errand-boy in a bookstore, then a copy-reader in the office of the 
Philadel2yhia Inquirer newspaper, and finally an apprentice to 
Messrs. Rickards & Dubosq, manufacturing jewelers, of Phila- 
delphia. He attained his freedom in the spring of 1834. This 
was the era of the removal of the deposits from the United States 
Bank ; and Mr. Kelley's first experience in political leadership was 
gained in encouraging and organizing the resistance of the Demo- 
cratic workingmen to the tyrannous demands of the Whig capi- 
talists of Pliiladelphia. The stand he took on this question rendered 
it difficult for him to obtain employment in liis native city. He 
accordingly removed to Boston, and at once secured a situation in 
tlie establishment of Messrs. Clark & Curry. In Boston, tlie 
spirit of New England culture took deep hold upon his natuie. 
While laboring with characteristic industry in the most difficult 
branch of his trade, the art of enameling — and achieving a high 
reputation as a skilful and tasteful workman, he improved his 
scholarshij) by solitary study ; and his contributions to the news- 
papers of the day, and written and extemporaneous lectures and 
addresses before public audiences, established his reputation as a 
writer and speaker of ability and power, in association even with 
such men as Bancroft, Brownson, Alexander H. Everett, Channing, 
and Emerson. 

172 



WILLIAM D. KELLET. 3 

In 1839, he returned to Pliiladelpliia, and entered, as a student 
of law, the office of Colonel James Page, a local leader of the 
Democratic party, and the postmaster of Philadelphia. On April 
17, 1S4I, he was admitted to the bar of the several courts of his 
native city. His advancement in the profession was immediate 
and rapid; while, in every political canvass, local and national, 
his stirring addresses attracted large audiences, and rendered hira 
one of the most conspicuous figures in the Democratic party. In 
January, 1S15, lie was appointed by the attorney -general of the 
State, Hon. John K. Kane— to conduct, in connection with 
Francis Wharton, Esq., who has since become celebrated as a writer 
on criminal law, the pleas of the Commonwealth in the ■courts of 
Philadeli)hia. In March, lSi6, Governor Shunk appointed Mr. 
Kelley a judge of the Court of Common Pleas, a tribunal whose 
jurisdiction was co-extensive with the common law, chancerj-, and 
ecclesiastical courts of England. In 1851, he was elected to the 
same' bench, under the new constitution of the State, upon an 
independent ticket, in defiance of the attempted proscription of 
the Democratic party organization, which was embittered against 
him for his course in the contested election case of Reed and 
Kneass. This was a triumphant vindication by the people of the 
justice and integrity of his action in that cause. 

But Judge Kelley did not confine himself to the topics of his 
profession or to the discussion of political questions. The protection 
of the weak and down-trodden, the reformation of the ignorant and 
vicious, and the promotion of education, have ever found in him an 
eloquent and powerful advocate. His remarkable powers of oratory 
gave additional effect to his chaste and polisiied style, and tew 
public speakers have proved so effective. We offer the following 
passages from an address of his before the Linnsean Society of 
Peimsjdvania college, Gettysburg, on the " Characteristics of the 
Age," delivered over twenty years ago, as giving an idea of the 
felicity and beauty of his style as a writer. The earnestness and tlie 
clear ringing tones of the orator are wanting to give it full eflect. 

173 



4 WILLIAM D. KELLET. 

*'I would not disparage the value of the 'little learning' which 
enables a man to read and write his mother-tongue with facility. 
When 'commerce is king,' the ability to do this is little less than 
essential to the physical well-being of the citizen. Under such 
government the receipt-book peaceal>ly enough performs a large 
share of the functions of the embattled wall and armed retainers 
of the days when force was law. But to rise above the commercial 
value of these slender attainments, he who can read the language 
of Shakespeare and Milton, Johnson and Addison, Shelley and 
Wordsworth, has the key to the collected wisdom of his race. 
The farms around his workshop, the property of others, present to 
his view a landscape which is his, and to him belongs every airy 
nothing to which poet ever gave habitation or name: The sages of 
the most remote past obey his call as counselors and friends; and 
in the company of prophet and apostle he may approach the presence 
of the Most High. The value of such a gift is inestimable. Wis 
dom and justice would make it the certain heritage of every child 
born in the commonwealth. 

* * * -X- * * * 

" The spirit of commerce is essentially selfish. Voyages are 
projected for profit. The merchant, whose liberal gifts surprise the 
world, chaffers in his bargains. Not for man as a family of 
brethren, therefore, are the blessings of this age. They are the 
gifts of a common Father, but they come not, like light and dew, 
insensibly to all. They mark the achievements of our race, and 
manifest the master-spirit of the age, but hitherto they have been 
felt but slightly by the masses of mankind. Wealth increases; 
but its aggregation into few hands takes place with ever-growing 
rapidity. The comforts of life abound ; but when the n)arkets of 
the world are glutted, hunger is in the home of the artisan. Over- 
production causes the legitimate effects of famine. The i!)gennity 
of political economists is vainly taxed for the means of preventing 
the accumulation of surplus material and fabrics. And wl)ile 
warehouse and granary groan with repletion, heartless theory 

174 



■WILLIAM D. KELLET. $ 

points to the laboring population reduced to want and pauperism, 
and, with dogmatic emphasis, inquires if the increase of population 
cannot be legally restrained ? The state of the market shows that 
there are more men than commerce requires, and a just system of 
economy would adapt the supply to the demand ! 

******* 

" Ancient philosophy did not recognize utility as an aim. It 
contemned, as mechanical and degrading, the discovery or inven- 
tion that improved man's physical condition. Socrates invented 
no steam-engine or spinning-jenny. The soul was his constant 
study. Regardless of his own estate, he cared not for the material 
comfort of others. Indifferent to the world himself, he sought to 
raise his disciples above it. A disputatious idler and a scoffer at 
utility, he fashioned Plato and swayed the world for centuries. 
Our philosophy comes from Bacon. It only deals with the wants 
of man and uses of nature. The body is the object of its solici- 
tude. Earth is the field of its hopes. Time bounds its horizon. 
Fruit, material fruit — the multiplication of the means of temporal 
enjoyment — was the end Lord Bacon had in view, when, de- 
nouncing the scliools, he gave his theory to the world. Time and 
experience have vindicated his methods. But have they not also 
shown, that a system which offers no sanction to virtue and no 
restraints to vice, whose only instruments are the senses, and whose 
only subject is material law, may impart to a world the vices 
which made the wisest also the meanest of mankind?" 

In August, 1856, Judge Ivelley was nominated, while absent 
from home, as the Republican candidate for Congress from the fourth 
Congressional district of Pennsylvania. He was not elected ; for 
the Republican idea had made at that day but feeble impression in 
Philadelphia, and the party was without means or organization. 
During that canvass he made his first great Republican address on 
" Slavery in the Territories," in Spring Garden Hall, Philadelphia. 
Motives of delicacy prompted him to resign his judicial office 
itumediately after the election, and he returned, after a term of- 

175 



6 WILLIAM D. KELLEl. 

nine years and nine months on the bench, to the private practice o 
Iiis profession. In October, 1860, he was elected on tlie Republican 
ticket to the seat in Congress to which he has been five times 
since returned by his constituents. On his return from the special 
session of Congress which convened on July 4th, 1861, he partici- 
pated as counsel for the Government, in the prosecution of the 
pirates of the rebel privateer Jeff Davis, and made a brilliant 
closing argument in that great State trial. In Congress he has 
spoken at length upon every national topic; and, in most instances, 
he has borne the standard of his party, and planted it far in ad- 
vance, holding it with firm and steady hand, until his friends occu- 
pied the position. 

As early as January Y, 1862, he detected the fatal errors of the 
military policy of McClellan, and warned the country of the 
incompetency of that officer, in an impromptu reply to the speech 
of Vallandigham, on the Trent case. On the 16th of January, 

1865, he vindicated, in an elaborate speech, the justice and necessity 
of impartial suffrage as a fundamental condition of the restoration 
of republican governments in the rebel States. On the 22d of 
June, 1865, in an address on " Tlie Safeguards of Personal Liberty," 
at Concert Hall, Philadelphia, he criticised the policy of recon- 
struction foreshadowed by President Johnson in his North Carolina 
proclamation, and indicated a plan of action, in respect to the 
rebel States, which has been since substantially embodied in the 
Reconstruction Acts of Congress. In his speech on " Protection to 
American Labor," delivered in the House of Representatives, on 
the 31st of January, 1866, he indicated a financial policy, in reference 
to the payment of the public debt, which Congress has fully adopted 
in the repeal of the cotton-tax, and the modification of the duties 
on manufactured products. In connection with these remarkable 
speeches, may be mentioned his speech on the 27tli of February, 

1866, on "the Constitutional Regulation of Suffrage." Two of 
Judge Kelley's speeches in Congress — that of January 16, 1865, 
on Suffrage, and that of January 31, 1866, on Labor — have had 

176 



WILLIAM D. KELLEY. 7 

more extensive circulation than the speeches of any other American 
Btatesman. More than lialf a million copies ot" each have been 
jninted and distributed. 

At the first session of the XXXIX. Congress, Judge Kelley 
introduced the bill, which viras afterwards passed with certain modi- 
fications, to secure the right of suffrage to the colored population 
of the District of Columbia. 

On the evening of the 22d of Februarj^, 1868, he spoke in favor 
of the impeachment of the President, and more recently partici- 
pated in the debate in the House of Representatives on the reso- 
lution of Mr. Brooniall, of Pennsylvania, to prohibit hereditary 
exclusion from the right of sulFrage, and defended the position 
taken by him in his more extended speech, two years before, on the 
Constitutional Regulation of Suffrage. 

We have not space even to mention the numerous speeches and 
addxa=ses of Judge Kelley in and out of Congress. He lias 
addressed his fellow-citizens from the lakes to the gulf In the 
spring of 1867, he visited the Southern States, and in a series of 
addresses at New Orleans, Montgomery, and other cities, spoke 
earnest and eloquent words of hope and encouragement to the 
people of the South. The noble wisdom and tender humanity 
which pervade these speeches, stamp them as the production of a 
statesman and a philanthropist. They were words of friendly coun- 
sel, which the people of the South would do well to heed. 

A comprehensive, national character, and a generous, intense, all- 
embracing humanity, have always characteriz:ed Judge Kelley 's 
political opinions. He saw in the repeal of the Missouri Compro- 
mise, conclusive evidence that the Democratic party had become 
sectional ; and he left it. He found that Democracy, which once 
had meant civil and religious liberty, equality, justice, advancement, 
the greatest good of the greatest number, had come to mean pro- 
scription of opinion, aristocracy, tyranny, disorder, slavery ; and he 
abandoned it. 

He is therefore one of the fathers of the National Republican 
12 177 



8 WILLIAM D. KKLLEY. 

party. The sincerity and earnestness of his convictions would 
always gain for him the attention of the ITouse of Representatives, 
if it were not commanded by the striking and engaging peculiari- 
ties of liis eloquence. He appears with equal advantage in im- 
promptu reply, and in elaborately prepared address. His vehe- 
ment declaiViation, delivered in tones of voice marvelously rich and 
powerful, thrills, on occasions, the members upon the floor and the 
listeners in the galleries; as when, on the memorable night of the 
22d of February, he exclaimed : — 

" Sir, the bloody and unfilled fields of the fen reconstructed 
States, the unsheeted ghosts of the two thousand murdered negroes 
in Texas, crj', if the dead ever invoke vengeance, for the punish- 
ment of Andrew Johnson." 

Judge Kelley is altogether the most considerable public character 
whom Philadelphia ever sent to the national councils. She has 
too few of such men — men of progressive ideas, commanding 
talents, and national fame ; and when one has served her, as Judge 
Kelley has, through eight years of eventful history, it becomes her 
duty, as a just community, to cherish and honor him. 

Judge Kelley served in the XLI. Congress, and has just been re- 
elected. In the organization of the House, he was placed on the 
Comnn'ttee of Ways and Means, and that of Coinage, Weights, and 
Measures. As a member of the previous House he has devoted 
himself assiduously to the promotion of the repeal of all duties 
im])osed on articles of food and raw materials for manufacture, for 
which we depend upon foreign countries. In these he would have 
absolute free trade. But as to the articles into the production of 
which our native material and labor enters, he is an extreme pro- 
tectionist. In this respect he may be regarded as the representative 
man of his native State, to the interests of whose people he is 
proudly devoted, as is shown by the following extract from hia 
speech in the House of Representatives on March 25, 1870 : — 

" Sir, I am proud of dear old Pennsylvania, my native State. She was the first to 
adopt the Federal Constitution, and \va3 in fact the key-stone of the Federal arch, 

178 



WILLIAM D. KELXEY. Q 

holding together the young Union when it consisted of but tliirteen States, and she ia 
to-dny pre-eminently the representative State of the Union. You cannot strike her 
80 that her industries shall bleed without those of other States feeling it, and feeling it 
vitally. She has no cotton, or sugar, or rice fields ; but apart from those she is iden- 
tified with every interest represented upon this floor. 

" Gentlemen from the rocky coast of New England and the gentlemen who are here 
from the more fertile and hospitable shores of the Pacific, especially the gentlemen 
from the beautifully wooded shores of Puget Sound, complain that their ship-yards are 
idle. Hers, alas I are also idle, although they are the yards in which were built the 
largest wooden ship the Government ever put afloat, and the largest saihug iron-clad 
it ever owned. She has her commerce, and sympathizes with young San Francisco and 
our great commercial metropolis. New York. She was for long years the leading port 
of entry in the country. She still maintains a respectable direct commerce and imports, 
very largely through New York, for the same reasons that London does thiough Liver- 
pool and Paris through Havre. 

" Are you interested in the production of fabrics, whether of silk, wool, fla.x, or cotton ? 
If so, her interests are identical with yours, for she employs as many spindles and 
looms as any New England State, and their productions are as various and valuable. 
Are your interests in the commerce upon the lakes? Then go with me to her beau- 
tiful city of Erie, and behold how Pennsylvania sympathizes with all your interests 
there. Are your interests identified with the navigation of the Mississippi and seeking 
markets for your products at the mouth of that river and on the Gulf? I pray you to 
remember that two of the navigable sources of the American 'Father of Waters' 
take their rise in the bosom of her mountains, and that for long decades her enterprising 
and industrious people have been plucking from her hills bituminous coal and floating 
it down tliat stream past the coal-fields of Oliio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri 
and other coal-bearing States, to meet that of England in the market of New Orlearrs 
and try to drive it thence. Gentlemen from the gold regions, where were the miners 
trained who first brought to light, with any measure of science and experience, the 
vast resources in gold and silver-bearing quartz of the Pacific slope ? They went to 
you from the coal, iron, and zinc mines of Pennsylvania. There they had learned to 
sink the shaft, run the drift, handle the ore, and crush or smelt it. It was experience 
acquired in her mines that brought out the wealth of California almost as magically as 
we were taught in childhood to believe that Aladdin's lamp cmrld convert-base articles 
into precious metal. 

"Nor, sir, are the interests of Pennsylvania at variance with tho-e of tlie great agri- 
cultural States. Before her Representatives in the two Houses of. Congress liad united 
their voices with those of gentlemen from the West to make magnificent land-grants 
for the purpoee of constructing railroads in different directions across the treeless but 
luxuriously fertile prairies, Pennsylvania was first among the great agricultural States. 
And to-day her products of the field, the garden, the orchard, and the dairy equal in 
value those of any other State. Gentlemen from Ohio, notwith.standing the statement 
of the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Allison), that you alone manufacture Scotch pig-iron 
and suffer from its importation, as j-ou alone have the black band ore from which it is 
made, is it not true that when Pennsylvania demands a tariff that will protect the 
wages of her laborers in the mine, quarry, and furnace, she does but defend the interest 
and rights of your laborers, and those of ever}^ other iron-bearing State in the Union? 
Gentlemen Irom Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina, Pennsylvania is denounced, 
because she pleads fdr a duty on coal that will enable you to develop your magnificent 

179 



10 WILLIAM D, KELLEY. 

tide-water coal-fields in competition with Nova Scotia. The coal of your tide-water 
fields is far more available than that of the inland fields of Pennsylvania, which de- 
pend on railroads for transportation. On the banks of the James, the Dan, and a score 
of other navigable rivers, lie coal-beds to within a few hundred feet of which the 
vessels which are to carry the precious fuel away may come, and they lie nearer to 
the markets of New England than those of your colonial rivals at Nova Scotia ; and 
when you were not here and Virginia and North Carolina were voiceless on this floor, I 
pleaded with the Thirty-Ninth Congress for the duty of $1.25 per ton in order that 
Virginia and North Carolina, soon to be reconstructed, should be able to produce fuel 
for New England better and cheaper tlian Nova Scotia does, and that it should be 
Carried in New England built vessels, so that the thousands of people employed in 
producing and transporting it should constitute a market for the grain of the Western 
farmer and the productions of American worksliops. I miglit, Mr. Chairman, extend 
the illustration of the identity of the interests of Pennsylvania with those of the peo- 
ple of every other State, but will not detain the committee longer on that subject. In 
leaving it I, however, reiterate my assertion that you cannot strike a blow at her indus- 
tries without the people of at least half a score of other States feeling it as keenly as 
she will. She asks no boon from Congress. Her people, whether they depend for 
subsistence upon their daily toil, or have been so fortunate as to have inherited or 
acquired capital, seek no special privileges from the Government. They demand that 
we shall legislate for the promotion of the equal welfare of all. They know that they 
must share the common fate, and that their prosperity depends upon that of their 
countrymen at large." 

180 



SAMUEL J. TILDEN^. 




I/PIIERE is no otlier country where the position of a lawyer 
^^^^^ reaches the dignity and power that it possesses here. He 
lias not here, in front of him, an aristocracy of hereditary 
title or of wealth. If a leader in his profession, he is in the front 
himself. If his professional pursuits carry him, in his career, 
beyond the investigation of subjects of mere personal interest, he 
becomes versed in constitutional questions, in the principles that 
guide the grandest civil interests and the state itself. If his ora- 
tory has the true fire, his leadership is supported by the tide of 
popularity. If he is a profound thinker, his counsel becomes con- 
trolling among his a'sociatcs. If ,he has physical energy, his in- 
fluence becomes active and real. If he acquires honest wealth, 
the independence it brings takes off all the weight from him in the 
race; and if his character secures for him a reputation for integ- 
rity and the honor of his countrymen, he has the whole field open 
to him, and he becomes the representative of a power beyond his 
own. 

The foundation of true virtue, as of true genius, is force. Force 
accomplishes results. The vindication of success demonstrates 
that a man does not march counter to his time and to human prog- 
ress, but that he represents an idea at the precise time when 
that idea is worth representing ; that if the times that try men's 
souls come, he has a soul worth trying. Whoever does not succeed 
is of no use to the world, and he passes away as if he never 
existed. 

These are reflections proper to an estimate of the character 
of Samuel J. Tilden. At the point, in his course, when the world 

181 



2 SAMUEL J. TILDE N. 

opened before him he chose the profession of a lawyer, and has, in 
singleness of purpose, pursued tlie path of his profession with a 
diligence that has placed him, midway in a whole life's course, in a 
position of which all the advantages are in his power. 

His first entry upon public life was in tlie political campaign in 
1832, which resulted in the election of General Jackson to hia 
second term of the Presidency. At that time William L. Marcy 
was governor of the State of New York, beginning an adminis- 
tration known as the Albany Regency. The opposition to the 
Jackson or Democratic ticket depended upon the coalition between 
the national Republican party and the Anti-masons, a political 
fragment, of brief existence on a local issue, which was made 
up of men drawn from each of the main parties. Success in the 
election, as shown by the event which terminated the political 
history of the An ti -masons, depended upon discrediting the coali- 
tion and withdrawing from it old Democrats into the ranks of their 
own party. Although he was but eighteen years of age, Mr. Til- 
den had already explored the facts and principles of this political 
situation, which had been for some years a leading question in 
State politics ; and, of his own motion, had written a paper leveled 
directly at the result, and this accidentally came to light. 

At his father's house in New Lebanon, Cohimbia County, New 
York, he had formed an acquaintance with the great statesmen 
of the Jacks- >nian era — William L. Marcy, Martin Van Buren, A. C. 
Flagg, Silas Wright, Michael Hofi'man, and the Livingstons. His 
father was a farmer, from English ancestors who settled in Massa- 
chusetts, at Scituate, in 1C26, removed to Connecticut in 1715, and 
thence to Columbia County, in 1790. He was a neighbor of Mr. 
Yan Buren and the Livingstons, and was himself not without in- 
fluence among the statesmen who were his friends. Mr. Tilden's 
paper becoming known in this circle, it was taken to Albany, and 
appeared in the Albany Argus on the 9th of October, 1832, as an 
address to the electors of Columbia County. It soon happened that 
a standard was applied to the ability of the paper, and to its effect 

182 



SAMUEL J. TILDEN. 3 

in a canvass that was engaging the vigor of the ablest men, for the 
editor was obliged to defend Mr. Yan Buren from an imputation 
of self-seeking, bj stating that it was not from his pen. This po- 
litical association, the most powerful in the liistory of the State, 
continued, witli Mr. Tilden in its counsels, until, after thirty years, 
he himself came into the leadership of his party. 

In 1832 he came to the city of New York to pursue his studies. 
These were interrupted by ill health ; and although there is now 
no trace left of it, his appearance was such that he was sometimes 
conscious, in tiie greeting of his friends, of their surprise at seeing 
him again. Still, a while at Yale College, and with private in- 
struction in New York, he kept at work in the acquisition of 
knowledge and the training of his powers. It is one of the quali- 
ties of genius that it can work all night. This sort of unremitting 
labor, pursued under a supreme necessity of ph^'sieal exercise for 
his health's sake, and the close direction of his studies in the single 
line of the law and its cognate branches, rapidly advanced him 
in his profession. lie confined himself to the great questions 
that arose before him, and never became engaged in a general 
practice. His studies in history, political economy, and meta- 
physics, all the more fiuitful because they were driven for a pur- 
pose in the intervals of professional occupations, expanded in him 
the broad views, and fixed in him the general principles of science, 
which impelled, him along the special professional path he had 
chosen. The line he was engaged in as counsel in the cases of 
great corporations, gave a practical application to his early incli- 
nation for financial discussions, and brought his profound study of 
the financial aspects of political economy up to tlie solution of 
actual questions. When he was twelve years old, his grandmother 
read to him altematel}^ in the Bible and in Jcft'erson's Corre- 
Bpondence, and upon that foundation he has built. 

In his political career he has never sought office, nor held any 
since they were open to his ambition. The principle that it is the 
first of social duties for a citizen of a republic to take his fair 

183 



4 SAMUEL J. TILDEN. 

allotment of care and trouble in all public affairs, wlien it lodges 
in a true and generous heart, excludes the use of political power 
as a means of self-aggrandizement. He served one year in the 
State Assembly, as a delegate from the city of New York, in 1846 ; 
and was an active member of the Constitutional Convention of 
1846, and of that of 1867. In the former he was next to Michael 
Hoffman on the Committee on Canals and the Financial Obligations 
of the State, and in the latter was on the Committee on Finance. 

In 1866 he was chosen one of the Democratic State Committee, 
and at the same time took the position of its chairman. He suc- 
ceeded Dean Richmond who had been chairman since 1850, and to 
whom Mr. Tilden had been a trusted confidential adviser. It has 
thus fallen to him to preside at, or to open, many of the most im- 
portant coTU'entions of that party. His speeches, on these occa- 
sions of breaking ground, have been remarkable for the precision 
and fervor with which he would express the dominant idea of the 
time, and the grasp he would take at the heart of the questions 
rising to be political issues. In the constitutional conventions, 
finances and tlie canals, the principal financial topic, engaged his 
attention, and he was successful, in 1846, in shaping the canal 
policy which has since proved so beneficial. 

In his professional career he has engaged not only in cases which 
required argument in the Courts of Review, upon the principles of 
law wliich fitted a case of developed facts ; but more eminently in 
the development of the facts themselves, from complicated sources, 
in the order of their legal value, so as to comprise the law, com- 
plete the case, convince the court and carry the jury. As Judge 
llogeboom said of his summing up, on such an occasion, he spoke 
as if in a trance. 

In the year 1855 Azariah C. Flagg received the certificate of 
election as Comptroller of the City of New York, and his title to the 
office was contested by his opponent by quo warranto. The vote 
had been so close, that a change in the return in a single election 
district would alter the result. Upon a fi*aud inserted here his 

184 



SAMUEL J. TILDEN. 5 

opponent proceeded, and proved that the three hundred and sixteen 
votes counted for Mr. Flagg beh)no;ed to him, and that his one hun- 
dred and eightj-six votes were all that Mr. Flagg received. He re- 
lied on the tally lists, which were on two sheets of paper; the one 
containing the canvass of tlie regular tickets was lost, but false 
results were pretended to have been transferred from it to the sheet 
containing the canvass of the split tickets, by certain figures, which, 
added to the votes there shown for him, gave him the three hundred 
and sixteen. That this was the truth, and that by an error made in 
the return, the votes had been transposed, was confirmed by the 
oral evidence of the iniipcctors, and appeared to be overwhelming. 
Mr. Tilden, by a logical and mathematical analysis, — shown by tables 
deriv^ed from the tally list that remained, the number of tickets 
and of candidates, and the aggregate votes, — reconstructed the lost 
list, and proved conclusively that the return for Mr. Flagg was cor- 
rect, and that the results pretended to have been transferred from 
it were arbitrary, false, and necessarily impossible. He won the 
case for Mr. Flagg on his opening. 

In the Burdell case, in 1857, which was tried, on the issue of his 
marriage, before Surrogate Bradford, the circumstantial and positive 
evidence of respectable witnesses in favor of the marriage was com- 
plete. On the theory that a fabricated tissue, however artful, if 
torn by cross-examination would reveal the truth, he put the one 
hundred and forty-two witnesses to the test, and developed a series 
of circumstances which struck the mind of the judge "with irresis- 
tible force,'' and led to his " entire satisfaction and conviction " 
that the marriage had never taken place. 

In the Cumberland coal case in 1858, in Maryland, there is an 
illustration of his ability to establish a purely legal principle. He 
sustained the doctrine that a trustee can not become a purchaser of 
property confided to him for sale, and applied that doctrine to the 
directors of corporations ; fully exhibiting the equitable principles 
on M'hich such sales are set aside, and the conditions necessary 
to give them validity. 

185 



Q SAMUEL J. TILDEN. 

Ill the case of the Delaware and Ilndson Canal Company against 
the Pennsylvania Coal Company, in 1863, the rights of the canal 
company to a large increase of toll, on a perpetual contract for coal 
transportation, depended upon the question of fact, whether a.-^ 
they claimed, by larger boats on an enlarged canal, the transpor- 
tation had been rendered cheaper. By a calculation that took yeai'S 
of labor, brought in M-ith its just weight every statistic and circum- 
stance of canal navigation, and by the application of the law of 
average, Mr. Tilden established the fiict against the canal company, 
and against the popular opinion ; and settled the fundamental eco- 
nomic principles of canal navigation for the country. 

In addition to many such cases, he has, since 1855, been exten- 
sively connected with the railroad enterprises of the country, par- 
ticularly of tlie AVcst. Perhaps more than half of tliose enter- 
prises, north of the Ohio, between the Hudson and the Missouri, 
have stood to him in the relation of clientage. The general mis- 
fortunes, between 1855 and 1860, which brought insolvency upon 
so many of these railroads, and placed in ])eril and confusion the 
interests of j^eople of all conditions, who were their creditors and 
contractors, bondholders and stockholders, called for some plan of 
relief. It was here that his legal knowledge, iinancial skill, labori- 
ous industry, weight of character and personal influence were called 
into action, and resulted in a plan of reorganization which })ro- 
tected equitably the rights of all parties, in many cases saved tire- 
some and wasting litigation, was generally adopted, and has 
resulted in a condition of railroad prosperity as eminent as the 
depression was severe. His relations with these companies and the 
individuals controlling them, have continued, and his thorough com- 
prehension of their history and requirements, his practical energy 
and decision, have elevated him to the mastery of the questions 
that arise in the organization, administration, and finances of 
canals as well as railroads, so that their prosperity can not be sepa- 
rated from his influence upon them. 

If there were space to expand tliese outlines into full illustra 

186 



SAMUEL J. TILDEN. 7 

tions, it would jiistiij the estimate placed upon Lis character, and 
the indication of the elements of his success. He has that rare 
equipoise between courage and judgment, which saves him from 
being rash in the hour of roflec^tion, and from indecision at the mo- 
ment of action. There is a mean between the theoretical, whicli 
l)enetrates ultimate causes and comprehends remote influences, and 
tiie practical, which looks ahead at the immediate result and the im- 
pediments. From that stand-point, tlie man who can get there, tests 
and rectifies theories, weighs on fundamental princi})les means and 
ends, and finishes by concentrating the power of all causes toward the 
.(ccomplishment of a single object. The theorist lacks result, and 
the practical man lacks power; but the man who is alive to the duly 
of to-day, and who has spent his time in settling pi'inciples, and 
correcting them by daily application to those ends which are the 
object of an active and eminent life, illustrates the elements ot 
success. 

These elements exist in Mr. Tilden in two forms. He has the 
]>uwer of analysis, and the power of combination. The power of 
analysis is rare ; in most men it arises when they find them- 
selves in emergencies, where they are compelled to think and to 
decide. It is the power to investigate, with intricate research, the 
mass of facts of a case which meets one like a chaos, and out ot 
it to pluck up the hinging facts, and swing them in their logical 
order: it is the persistence in holding a complex mass of ideas, 
facts, principles, and illustrations under the mental lens, until dis- 
tinct and accurate views appear, and at the focus rises the inuige to 
be realized. Then comes into ]>lay the power of combination and 
organization, which is the rarer power, and without which the 
power of analysis is like an ungathered harvest. It is the power 
to comprehend the situation, to devise the expedient, to seize the 
oi)portunity, to combine men and to carry their convictions. Mr. 
Van Buren was an example of this power; and even in his day, 
and in the councils of the Regency", Mr. Tilden stood among them, 
not without purpose and not without honor; so that Michael Iloff- 

187 



8 . SAMUEL J. TILDEN. 

man said of liim, " that young man will have liis way, for he lias 
a plan." 

It need hardly be added of such a man that, within his range, 
he reads every thing. He does not rest upon his acquisitions as a 
sufficient capital, but keeps in advance on the fresh fields of 
thought ; and the library with which he surrounds himself, rich in 
all branches, is full on his favorite topics of political economy and 
finance. 

If you were to meet him, you Avould find a man full of convic- 
tions and of great gentleness, fond of abstruse questions, quick in 
his appreciation of literature and art, jealous of the dignity of his 
profession, and with a candor and fairness which leaves him no 
opponents. His penetration into the merits of a case, and liis 
grasp of the justice of it, are such, that it is the characteristic of 
his business that he settles controversies, or rather, prevents them, 
by leading the parties away from their differences to the point 
where they can agree, and which they all see to be right. It is 
because lie gains their confidence at the outset. You could not 
leave him without your thoughts, perhaps your feelings lingering 
upon him. 

In a social discussion, he is full of enthusiasm and of grace. 
You watch for the source of the spell whil;h holds you, and would 
find it in the fullness of his human nature, were it not in the intel- 
lectual fascination of a man who thoroughly undei'stands his sub- 
ject, and is in earnest about making you believe it. He will in an 
argument gather up the points of the controversy, or analyze 
and balance an array of facts, from clear statement rise into 
eloquence, and with a rigorous accuracy that leaves not a point to 
be contested, reach his conclusion and clinch it, with his hearers in 
the silent consciousness which follows an argument which was not 
made to be answered. 

In public life, his part would be that of a statesman. He vi^ould 
determine the principles and plan, rather than execute the details 
of an administrative office. He would direct the counsels of a 

188 



SAMUEL J. TILDEN. 9 

political party, rather than encounter the turbulence of its contests*. 
But with his native larf^eness of mind ; with an experience that 
measures the nnitcrial interests of all classes of men in all their 
modes of advancement ; with a power to delve among and array 
facts, and upon them to erect a philosophic basis from which to 
press on to action ; with a logical method, an utter familiarity and 
a fearless consciousness of power in handling great questions, his 
place would be found at great crises, and under the burden of the 
insoluble problems of a parliamentary debate. At such a moment, 
as amid the financial difficulties and crude remedies which have 
followed the rebellion, he would be the man to contrive the scheme 
which comprehended every determining fact, and overcame ever}' 
possible objection ; wliich was sound in principle and efficient in 
practice, and by his reasoning and advocacy to bring order upon 
what was formless and void, and, because he was right, to gain the 
convictions of men and achieve great results for his country. 

During the most active period of his life, the party to which he 
belongs has held too loosely the reins of its power, so that he has 
deserved well of his country, rather than Iiad a career. It will be 
a brilliant epoch in the history of our nation, wlien the ideas which 
are to shape its policy and advance its destiny emerge into domi- 
nance, and, with its representative men foremost, the party shall 
resume its power. 

189 



JOHi^ B. GOUGH. 



V^gf Oim B. GOITGII was born on the 22d of August, 1817, 
^^W* at Sandgate, in the county of Kent, England — a romantic 
>s3Cy jittle watering-place frequently resorted to by many of 
the English gentry. His father was a soldier for twenty-five years, 
and served in the Fortieth and famous Fifty-second Hegiinents of 
Light Infantry, receiving at last a pension of £20 per year. 

His mother was an intelligent, pure-minded, and affectionate 
lady, whose ver}' being was interwoven with her son, who as ardently 
retiirn(?d her love. From her he received a rudimentary education, 
which was further promoted by attendance at the village-school. 
Soon after the age of ten, however, he left school, and was never 
afterwards permitted the advantages of scholastic instruction. 

In the year 1829, at the age of twelve years, young Gougli came 
to America, and on the 3d of August for the first time beheld 
New York City, which was to him a New World, teeming with 
strange sights, and the commencement of a new era in his eventful 
life. After residing about two months in the city, he went to a 
farm in Oneida county, and there remained two years biisied in 
agricultural pursuits; then again returned to New York, with but 
fifty cents in his pocket, and a small trunk containing all the 
worldly goods he possessed. 

Mr. Gough, in speaking of this period of his youthful career, in 
his autobiograph}', says : — 

" As I stood at the foot of Cortliindt Street nfter T left the boat, hundreds of people 
passed by resjardless of me. and I felt desolate indeed. But the impressions and in- 
structious received from mj' beloved mother, alTorded me some rays of consolation which 
glimmered through the gloom. Whilst musing on my sad fortune, the text of Scrip- 
ture, ' Trust in the Lord,' etc., .lame into my mind and gave me encouragement. So, 

191 



2 JOHN B. GOUGH. 

shou'.doiing my trunk, I oiitered tlie "jreat ciiy, a boy bi.t fonrtoen years of ago, a 
strang-er among a strange people, with no one to guide me, none to advise me, and not 
a single soul to love or be loved by. 

Meeting with tiie venerable Mr. Dando, I was engaged by him as errand-boy, and 
also to learn the book-binding business, at $2.25 per week, boarding myself, etc." 

The early life and struggles of the subject of this notice cannot 
he better told, perhaps, than by himself, in the work before quoted 
from, so we shall continue a i'aw brief extracts : — 

*' After the death of ray mother, I scraped together all I could and went to visit the 
family with whom I left England; but after remaining with them two months, I found 
my absence would not be regretted, and again left for New York. While boarding on 
Grand Street, I laid the foundation of future sorrows, for there I became acquainted 
with dissipated young men, to whom my talents made me weleouie ; and thrown upon 
the world with a tarnished reputation, my situation was far worse than it had hitherto 
been, and as my habit for strong drink was becoming confirmed, my circumstances 
began to be desperate indeed. All my efforts to obtain work were in vain, and when 
one meal was ended, I did not know where to olitain another." 

At length, however, he determined to reform, and not continue a 
blighted outcast from society. At this time, he says : — 

" Scarcely a hope remained for me of ever becoming that which I once was, but 
having promised to sign the pledge, I determined not to break my word. With 
palsied hand I grasped the pen and signed the total-abstinence pledge." 

His condition became speedily much improved, his appearance 
more respectable, and soon after this it was whispered that he had 
some talents for public speaking. His first address from a pulpit 
occupied fifteen or twenty minutes, and was listened to very atten- 
tively. Unfortunately, again a glass of brandy was offered to 
him., and again he fell. One rash, inconsiderate act undid the 
work of months, and well-nigh blasted every future hope. 

Still, with a resolve creditable alike to his head and heart, he 
determined to loose himself from the fetters of strong drink, and 
continued to give lectures on temperance, though with little or 
sometimes no remuneration. On one occasion, when he had been 
speaking for more than two hours, a vote of thanks was pro})osed 
for the lecture, though he had not money enough to pay his car-fare 
home. 

192 



JOHN B. GOUGH. g 

Mr. Gough's first lecture in Boston was in a hall under tlie 
nmseuni on Tremont Street. The room was about half filled. 
Says Mr. Gougli: "After I had engaged to speak in Boston, I 
felt half inclined to run away, when I thought it was the modern 
Athens of America. But I made out to get through the ordeal." 

Since that time he has deliv^ered three hundred and twenty one 
lectures in Boston, besides addresses to children, and always to 
crowded houses. And who now in the city does not remember the 
lecturer Gough, the inimitable Gough, who with mimicry that 
none can equal, convulsed the audience one moment with weeping, 
the next with laughter. Who among the teas of thousands to-day 
who have heard his pleadings with the inebriated in Tremont Tem- 
ple and elsewhere, can forget his magical presence and impassioned 
eloquence ? Who can forget his charmingly pathetic stories ? Who 
does not remember a " London Fog," "• Peculiar People," " Cir- 
cumstances," etc. ? 

In 1853 Mr. Gough was invited to Great Britain to commence a 
new and interesting field of labor. As in Boston, so now in the 
greatest metropolis of the Old World, he hesitated and feared the 
criticisms of a Loudon audience. "I cannot argue," he says; "I 
am no logician, have no education." But the venerable Dr. Beecher 
said, " Go, Mr. Gough, and talk to the people, and I will pray for 
you." 

On the 30th of July, 1853, he arrived in England, and the first 
words that greeted his ears were those of friends and admirers who 
bade him " welcome to England." At SuiTey Gardens he lectured 
to an audience of seventeen thousand persons, the largest he ever 
addressed. It was a proud day for the village of Sandgate, when 
they beheld again their own village-boy, grown to the stature of 
a man, and one of the most attractive speakers in his field of labor, 
in the New or Old World. 

In the year 1854 Mr. Gough was employed constantly in address- 
ing the people in the principal towns and, cities of England and 
Scotland. Exeter TIall was often crowded with an audience of 
13 193 



4 JOHN B. GOUGH. 

cultivated and Christian people, who came, attracted by the fame of 
the speaker, to listen and learn, rather than to condemn ; for logic 
and criticism were unthonghtof in the interest which ever attended 
his earnest, thrilling, heart-felt talk. His style was peculiarly 
his own, and its efficacy has been avouched over and over again. 

In England the success of the speaker was complete, his triumph 
in behalf of temperance wonderful. After two years of hard labor, 
Mr. Gough returned home to the " Old Bay State," but before leav- 
ing, promised to revisit England at some future day. In 1857 
this promise was fulfilled, and dm-ing a protracted stay in England 
and on the continent, he delivered six hundred and five lectures. 
and traveled 40,217 miles. 

In 1860 Mr. Gough again embarked for his home in the United 
States, carrying with him the assurance of a noble work performed, 
and many loving testimonials and heart-felt " God bless you's," from 
appreciative friends who regretted his adieu to the Old World. 

It were impossible to determine the measure of good accomplished 
by this devoted champion of temperance. His work has been earn- 
est and unremitting; his triumph has been glorious, and his re- 
ward will be enduring. With his compassion for the inebriate, he 
has inherited a love for the widow and the orphan, and has ever 
extended a helping hand to the afflicted. Many will call him 
blessed, for many have received bounteous blessings from his 
hands. 

He possesses a beautiful home near Worcester, Massachusetts, 
where, with all the surroundings of comfort and elegance, he lives 
in the enjoyment of the pleasing consciousness of having done 
much good, and the certainty of being appreciated by his fellow- 
men. 

194 




C. K. GAEEISOK 

HE subject of tins biographical notice, Cornelius K. 
Garrison, was born in the neighborhood of West Point 

'f^ on the Hudson, on March 1st, 1809. His forefathers 
were among the earliest settlers of 'New Amsterdam, and were 
of that colony of worthy Hollanders, whose brain and muscle 
inaugurated the jdoneer eiforts which have resulted in the un- 
equaled development of this country. His ancestors — the Garri- 
sons and Coverts on his father's side, and the Kingslands and 
Schuylers on his mother's — were old Knickerbocker families of 
whose blood any descendant might be proud. 

During the childhood of Cornelius, his father, Oliver Garrison, 
by some misadventure, lost all his fortune, he having been pre- 
viously a large capitalist, consequently the son was thrown on his own 
resources at an early age. Undaunted by the misfortune of his 
father, he speedily resolved to take care of himself; and it is here 
in this readiness to appreciate a necessity, and determination to 
surmount difficulty, that we discover in the youth the germs of a 
will and an energy that have served the man so well in after life. 

During the business season, he was employed in the carrying 
trade on the river, and thus passed three years of his life from his 
thirteenth to his sixteenth year. In the meantime, fully r.ware of 
the great value of education, he diligently applied himself to study 
whenever occasion presented, and particularly during the winter 
months when the navigation of the river was closed. 

At the age of sixteen, in compliance with his mother's earnest 
wish, he went to New York fur the purpose of studying architec- 
ture, and here during three years' of application to that particular 

195 



2 C. K. GARRISON. 

branch, he acqnh'ed valuable information, which served him well 
in the time immediately following. 

At the expiration of the tliree years in Kew York, he removed 
to Canada, where he remained five years or more, actively engaged 
in planning and erecting buildings, constructing steamboats on 
the Lakes, and otherwise turning his architectural knowledge to 
good account. "While in Canada, he made the acquaintance of 
and subsequently married, a lady from Buffalo, 'New York. "While 
there, also, he acquired an enviable reputation for reliable, clear- 
headed business sagacity, evidenced by the Upper Canada Com- 
pany giving to him the general supervision of its affairs in Canada, 
This position, valuable as it was, considering the vast wealth and 
power of the company, was soon renounced by Mr. Garrison, on 
account of the then threatening aspect of affairs between England 
and the United States, arising from border difficulties. 

On leaving Canada, Mr. Garrison returned to the States, and 
located in the Southwest, where he entered largely in his Inisiness, 
and was also interested in other enterprises connected with the 
navigation of the Mississippi. On the discovery of gold in Cali- 
fornia, he went to Panama and established a banking house, which 
proved his most successful undertaking thus far. In 1852, he vis- 
ited New York, with the view of establishing a branch bank, but 
receiving at this time a favorable offer from the Nicaragua Steam- 
ship Line, to take the San Francisco agency of their business, he 
accepted the position -and set out immediately for California. 

The great work which he accomplished during a seven years' 
stay in California, is one which to relate would necessitate a his- 
tory almost in detail of the city of San Francisco itself during that 
period. He reached the city on the steamer Sierra JVevada, in the 
latter part of March, 1853. As agent of this steamship line, he 
received a salary at the rate of $60,000 per annum, and had about 
$25,000 additional as representative of sundry Insurance companies. 
His first efforts were directed to the reformation of the Nicaragua 
Steamship Line, whose business was rapidly declining under in- 

196 



C. K. GARRISON. 3 

competent management and the odium attending the terrible dis- 
asters of the Independence and S. S. Lewis. With characteristic 
energy, and admirable comprehension, difficulties that tlireatened 
to engulf his company in financial ruin, were speedily mastered, 
and his wonderful administrativ^e ability, inr.piring life and effici- 
ency in every department of the service, restored almost magical 
prosperity to the enterprise, and placed it in powerful competition 
with the strongest lines on the Pacific coast. 

Fame of course attended this work. Its master spirit found 
himself suddenly a public f^ivorite, and this appreciation found ex- 
pression in his being elected Mayor of San Francisco in six months 
after his arrival. This honor came wholly unsolicited by Mr. Gar- 
rison, who rather preferred the pursuit of his great business enter- 
prises, to any political preferment. Such a graceful compliment, 
however, by the citizens of San Francisco to one almost a stranger 
among them could not be declined, although Mr. Garrison entered 
upon his new duties with many misgivings respecting his capability, 
heightened no doubt by the knowledge of the ability and suc- 
cess of his immediate predecessors in office. A work styled " Kep- 
resentative Men of the Pacific," from which we have gathered the 
foregoing data, thus speaks of Mr. Garrison's advent and efficiency 
in the mayoralty: "It was soon evident that the same sound 
judgment and executive talent that could grasp and prosperously 
control steamship lines and banking institutions, could with equal 
facility administer the affairs of a community. His inaugural ad- 
dress, delivered in October, 1853, to the two branches of the Com- 
mon Council, was a model of plain, unpretending, common sense, 
abounding in practical suggestions, going straight to the point, and 
quite devoid ol flourish or attempt at oratorical display. He ac- 
knowledged the weight of the responsibility, and pledged himself 
to devote his best energies to the interests of the city. A month 
later he submitted a message, which may challenge any paper of 
the kind, in sound business ideas and financial propositions. It 
contained the germs of what became, years afterwards, the rally- 

197 



4 C. K. GARRISON. 

ing cries of reform in the administration of the city government. 
The first outspoken denunciation in any official document, of the 
disgraceful public gambling then prevalent in the many saloons of 
San Francisco, and the first rebuke of Sunday theatricals, with a 
recommendation for ordinances for their suppression, are found in 
this message. And it was not merely a verbal protest against tlie 
evils described. Mr. Garrison never ceased to wage war against 
them until the desired reforms were completely efiected. The crime 
of a public gaming hell has never blackened the fame of San Fran- 
cisco since Mayor Garrison's term. For this act alone he is enti- 
tled to the gratitude of all who respect morality, decency, and good 
order. The first proposal of an Industrial School for juvenile de- 
linquents, wlio should thus be separated from contact with the hard- 
ened criminals in the cells of the city prison ; the earliest suggest- 
ions of a tariff of hack fares for the protection of strangers from 
extortion ; the taxation of non-resident capital ; the building of sub- 
stantial, well-ventilated school houses in place of the shanties then 
used in various districts — these, among other proposals equally 
sensible and at that time novel, were embodied in the message." 

That Mr. Garrison's efforts vv^ere potent in enliancing the pros- 
perity and good government of San Francisco no one can gainsay. 
In the way of education he accomplished much. When the money 
required for the construction of school houses was called for, and 
could not be obtained at proper quarters, he advanced it from his 
private means, lie organized the first African school in San Fran- 
cisco, believing that as the negroes were destined, at some future day, 
to enjoy the rights of citizenship, it was proper to prepare them 
therefor by education. 

At this time, apart from, his other and engrossing duties, he never 
lost sight of two favorite schemes in his mind. The one a steamship 
line to China and Australia, and the other the exploration of a 
route for the Pacific Railroad. He urged immediate action on these 
subjects whenever occasion oflered. He was the first subscriber to 
a Telegraph line across the Sierras to demonstrate the practicability 

198 



C. K. GARRISON, g 

of overland telegraphic communication between San Francisco and 
New York. 

During his stay in California there were few charitable enter- 
prises to which he was not a reatly and liberal contributor. One 
notable instance of this characteristic generosity is recorded in his 
serving the public gratuitously during his whole tcnn as Mayor ; a 
check drawn for the entire amount of his salary having been dona- 
ted and divided equally by him among the Eoman Catholic and 
Pi'otestant Orphan Asylums. Nor were these benevolent dispensa" 
tions confined to San Francisco or California. Hundreds of desti- 
tute people at Panama were relieved at his personal expense, and it 
was he who, in September, 1853, was foremost in a movement for aid- 
ing the sufferers from yellow fever in New Orleans, and contributed of 
his private means unsparingly to that end. His services in this matter 
were warmly appreciated by the public, and the Germans of San 
Francisco, in a special meeting, passed him a vote of thanks for his 
effective aid in the transmission of funds and otherwise. 

After an eventful career in California, during which the City of 
San Francisco experienced, under his able administration and by 
his enlightened cooperation in great works of public improvement., 
of moral, social, and educational advancement, a stimulus and im- 
pulsion in the way of prosperity never before realized. Mr. Garri- 
son returned to New York City in the year 1859. Here he became 
at once a bold and successful financier, interested in great commer- 
tial enterprises, and taking a principal part in some of the heaviest 
transactions of the times. He is now cne of the leading Steamship 
proprietors in the Unit'^d States. He assisted the Government in 
multitudes of ways, during the late war, rendering incalculable ser- 
vice by the aid of his steamship service. When the Union cause 
was in sorest need, and capital was hesitating, Mr. Garrison fitted 
out, principally by his own exertions and respohsibility, what was 
known as Butler's Ship-Island Expedition. This patriotic endeavor 
was formally acknowledged by President Lincoln, Secretary Seward, 
Mr. Sumner and other leading members of Congress. 

199 



6 C. K. GARRISON. 

His visit to the metropolis of the Pacific, one of the earliest over 
the railroad across the continent, after an absence of ten years, was 
the occasion of an enthusiastic ovation, tendered in the way of 
heartfelt congratulations and kind wishes by his many friends who 
welcomed his return. A short time prior to his departure from 
San Francisco, he received the following communication, signed 
by the most prominent professional and business men of the city : 

San Francisco, August 10th, 18G9. 
Hon. C. K. Gaeeison: 

Deae Sie. — In token of the very great regard we entertain for 
you, both on account of your public services and private benefices 
to the citizens of San Francisco, we, your old friends and associates, 
beg to ask your acceptance of a farewell dinner, to be given at the 
Maison Doree, on Monday evening, August 16th, at seven o'clock. 
(Here follow some thirty or more signatures.) 

At tlie elegant and sumptuous banquet which followed the accept- 
ance of this invitation, Hon. Ogden Hoffman, United States District 
Judge, Governor Haight, and Hon. Frank McCoppin, Mayor of the 
city, were present as invited guests. Dr. A. J. Bowie presided, and 
made the following address : 

Gentlemen : This banquet to-niglit, to the Hon. C. K. Garrison, 
was prompted by a desire on the part of Mr. Garrison's friends to 
convey to him first, their full recognition of the great services he 
had rendered to this community, in behalf of immigration to our 
city and State, but more especially because of liis personal endear- 
ment to the early surviving settlers and residents of the City of 
San Francisco. We can scarcely hope, however much we may 
desire it, tliat Mr. Garrison will again venture to enconter the 
toil of another visit to our city, which wo know he loves so well, 
and to whose development and growth he has contributed so 
largely ; and therefore, at one and the same moment, we proclaim 
our pleasure at securing him, and our regret at parting, by bidding 

him farewell. 

200 



C.K.QAIIRISON. 7 

To which Mr. Garrison replied as follows : 

Gentlemen : I am filled with the greatest emotion at this most 
unexpected and flattering entertainment on the part of my old 
friends. If I had required any incentive beyond what had been 
supplied by my past relations with California, this spectacle of so 
nnieh worth and intelligence would urge me still further in hope 
and effort to develop tlie interests of this mighty country. Gen- 
tlemen, my heart is too full of gratitude for this splendid ovation 
to permit me to do aught else but beg you will accept the poverty 
of my language to express my full feelings of gratitude. 

Messrs. Judge Dclos Lake, Judge Lyons, Gen. E. D. Keys, "W. 
E. Ealston, Charles E. McLane, Hall McAllister, Joseph P. Hoye, 
J. G. Eastland, ar.d others followed in addresses equally appropri- 
ate lor the occasion, 

Mr. Garrison, as before remarked, is now a resident of Kew York 

City, and largely identiiied with its commercial prosperity. He is 
recogiiised by his co-workers in great business ^enterprises, as well 
as by all who know him, as a man of extraordinary energy, keen 
foresight, and a perseverance that appreciates the word difficulty as 
a mere notice of the necessity of exertion. Warm in friendship, 
tolerant and conservative in opinion, of fine social qualities and 
conversational powers, and a remarkable force of character — with 
ample means and a willingness to do good in future as in the past, 
joined to an enlightened and progressive estimation of duty, 0. K. 
Garrison is a citizen who would honor any community. 

201 



AETHUR F. WILLMAETH. 



r^J#RTHUR F. WILLMAETH, Vice-President of the Home 

>a<ijvV Insurance Company of New York, President of the At- 
'^''=-*^ lantic and Pacific Telegraph Company, and President of 
the American Atlantic Cable Telegraph Company, embodies in his 
character and business career those predominant traits of our self- 
made men which have created the history of the United States. 
Untiring industry, indomitable pluck, steady patience in adversity, 
and unswerving integrity, allied to excellent natural abilities, have 
been the essential elements of a hard-won and well-merited success. 

Although now somewhat more than fifty years of age, Mr. 
Willmarth is a young-looking man, a temperate and regular h'fe 
having preserved his original vigor unimpaired. Somewhat above 
the middle height, slender, and well-proportioned, with a well-knit 
and muscular development, he has an unusual capacity for continued 
exertion. His complexion is dark, his hair and eyes black, the 
latter not large but keen and penetrating, with a pleasant expression, 
and ready to light up at any time with i'un or humor. 

Few men have so well preserved through all the wear and tear of 
business pursuits the buoyant freshness of earlier days; and his 
manner, though methodically steady and exact, is uniformly and 
genuinely courteous to high and low alike. This, too, has been no 
unimportant element of his popularity and success. 

Like so many other of our prominent men, Mr. Willmarth was 
born in the Old Bay State, and among the far-famed Berkshire 
Hills — a rough region, from which it was necessary to " strike out" 
in order to find anything of a field for extended activity. His 
father was a farmer, and his own oppor'. unities for early mental 

203 



2 ARTHUR F. WILLMARTH. 

training were in no respect superior to tliose of other Yankee 
country-boys. The farm with its work, and the common scliools of 
the day, such as they were, occupied his energies until his fifteenth 
year, wlien he entered as a clerk a calico-printing esta])lishment 
owned by two of his uncles at North Adams, Massachusetts. Here 
he worked one year for his board only, but then wealth seemed to 
dawn on him, for he received, the year succeeding, no less a sum 
than fifty dollars in addition. Tlie next year his steady, good con- 
duct was rewarded by a further advance to eighty dollars, and his 
fourth year was spent in affluence on one hundred and fifty. 

Time passed rapidly, even in a calico printery, and a day of 
triumph was in store, for in his twenty-second year Mr. Willmarth 
was made a partner in the firm whose interests he had served so 
faithfully. The business of the concern was very successful and 
grew rapidly, until finally it reached an aggregate of from two to 
three millions of dollars annually — a large business for those days, 
and the profits were all that could be desired. The young manu- 
facturer laid aside a little propert}'', and the future looked as smiling 
as possible. Here, also, began Mr. Willmarth's acquaintance with 
the insurance business and his experience as an underwriter ; for, 
shortly after becoming a partner in the house, he accepted the lo- 
cal agency of the ^i^tna Insurance Company, of Hartford, Connec- 
ticut, which he retained until 1843. Manufacturing, like all other 
business pursuits in America, is not without its perils, and a dark 
hour was cominsr. The s-reat financial convulsion of 1846, under 
which all our commercial interests were so terribly prostrated, found 
its way to North Adams, and the calico-printing firm went down 
before it. Everything was swept away, including the private for- 
tunes of all the partners. 

In this connection there are two facts worthy of mark, not only 
as indicating the character of the man, but as adding to the worth 
of his example. Not only did the largest creditors of the firm, 
those who lost most heavily by its failure, express their entire satis- 
faction with his ability and integrity in its management, but they 

204 



ARTHUR F. WILLMARTH. 3 

remained, and to this day continue the stanch friends and unfailing 
" references " of Mr. WiOmarth. Moreover, in the very hour of 
the crash, when the liard-earned results of long years of thought 
and toil were being snatched from him by one day of disaster, the 
young manufacturer's greatest anxiety was not for himself, but for 
the feeble, the poor, the helpless, who had been dependent for their 
daily bread upon the work aiforded them by the manufactory. 
For himself he had no fear. All the future was his, and he felt 
within him the courage and ability to meet it ; but these two or 
three hundred operatives he knew very well were not supplied with 
the same resources, and his first and foremost care was to see that 
they at least were paid in full. 

Everything was swept away, but he met his reverses with cheerful 
courage, and refused to borrow or run in debt. During many 
months that followed, there seemed nothing open but a clerkship 
on a small salary, but rigid Economy made that sufficient for the 
time. There had, however, been something in the method and 
ability with which he had transacted the business of his insurance 
agency that had attracted the attention of the JStna Company, 
and they now offered him their General Agency, a highly-important 
and responsible position, but with a salary by no means commen- 
surate. This he accepted, entering upon his duties on the first day 
of January, 1850. His laurels as an underwriter came to him 
rapidly, for at the end of the first year he was made assistant secre- 
tary, and in 1852, he transferred his services to the Old Hartford 
Insurance Company as full secretary. Here, also, his peculiar 
capacity made itself quickly manifest and secured him the un- 
bounded confidence of his associates. 

In the winter of 1852-3, the organization of the Home Insurance 
Company was begun in New York, and the marked success of the 
Hartford Companies naturally led capitalists to look in that direc- 
tion for what may fairly be termed "professional skill." Such 
men as Mr. Willmarth could not be overlooked, and he was invited 
to come to New York and aid in the foundation of the new enter- 

205 



4 ARTHUR F. WILLMARTH. 

prise. He came in April, 1853. and on the thirteenth of the 
month the Home Insurance Company issued its first "policy." 
At the end of two years he was chosen secretary, and in 185B 
he was made vice-president, a position which he has filled to the 
present day. 

Eighteen years, therefore, very nearly, Mr. Willmarth has been 
an executive oflicer of one of the most widely-known and success- 
ful insurance corporations in the United States, if not in the world. 
To the minds of some, indeed of very many, this fact would con- 
vey a sufficiently comprehensive meaning; but the greater number 
know very little of the necessary qualifications of a controlling 
underwriter. It is not generally understood, outside of strictly 
financial circles, that the successful management of a large insur- 
ance business requires more knowledge of human nature and a 
keener intuitive perception of character than even banking ; that 
it necessarily involves a practical acquaintance with a wide range 
of both statute and common law application, and that it demands 
general and accurate information concerning the nature, peculiarities, 
value, and marked availability of every description of movable 
property. 

That this is not an overstrained estimate of the qualifications of 
that highly-honorable class of men, the leading underwriters of the 
United States, our business community will gladly testify, and 
among this class Mr. Willmarth holds an unquestionable place in 
the foremost rank. It is to be doubted if the city contains his 
superior. He is especially noted for the swift precision with which 
his mind performs its unanalyzed processes. There is no '' guess- 
work," no carelessness, no mistake, but the fully-formed and clearly- 
stated judgment of any given case seems to follow instantaneously 
upon a correct understanding of the facts, and it is rare indeed 
that a subsequent examination calls for a revision or reversal of 
his decision. 

Valuable as is this faculty, it is not more a natural gift than the 
legitimate and sure result of habitual and conscientious care in the 

206 



ARTHLni F. WILLMARTH. 5 

disL-liarge of the mmutest dntj, producing in time a marvelous 
perfection of especial mental training. 

During these latter years, in spite of the exacting nature of his 
otKcial duties. Mr. Willniarth has found time to identify himself 
with other enterprises of no small importance. 

In 1806, having been for a long time impressed with the need 
for an independent national telegraphic combination in opposition 
to the existing monopoly, he joined with other gentlemen in the 
formation of the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company, and was 
at once chosen its president. The history of the enterprise has 
been one of continued struggle against seemingly overwhelming 
difficulties, but all have been met and vanquished with unyielding 
courage, and the lines and connections of* the Company now reach 
most of the important business points of the country from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific, A similar history appertains to the par- 
allel effort to establish a distinctively American ocean telegraph- 
cable between the United States and Europe, and less determined 
men would long ago have given it up in despair. Mr. "Willmarth 
became a director of the American Atlantic Cable Telegraph Com- 
pany in 1867, and its president in 1870, and at the present time the 
])rospect for speedy success seems better than ever before. 

The genial courtesy of Mr. Willmarth's manner does not at all 
interfere with a most unyielding firmness and a positive incapacity 
for being driven one inch from any position which he deems right 
or wise. His habits and tastes are simple and refined. Though 
exceedingly fond of fast horses, and not only of seeing them go, 
but of holding the reins over them, his best horse has never 
carried him to a race-course. The lesson of his career may be 
accepted as thoroughly hearty, wholesome, manly, and worthy of 
imitation by the young men of America. 

207 



WILLIAM H. VANDEEBILT. 




ILLIAM H. VANDEEBILT is the eldest son of the distin- 

'^^ guished Commodore Yanderbilt. He was born Maj 8th, 
1821, at New Brunswick, in the State of New Jersey. 
He early exhibited the energy, sagacity, and hopeful industry which 
have since made for him so successful a career. 

He was educated at Columbia College Grammar School where 
he was thoroughly grounded in all the studies necessary for the 
prosecution of business. But though satisfactorily performing his 
school duties his tastes were more for active than scholastic pur- 
suits. His father's example was to his youthful mind a perpetual 
incentive to strike out for himself, and win the rewards of success- 
ful exertion. 

At the age of eighteen he entered the house of Drew, Kobinson, 
& Co., and began his business life. From that time to the present 
few men have been more persistently and intelligently industrious. 

He quickly won the confidence of the firm, then known as one of 
the ablest and strongest in the street, and so highly did they appre- 
ciate his value that at the end of two years, notwithstanding his 
youth, they discussed the propriety of taking him into partnership. 
Rapid growth and constant application had begun to tell upon Mr. 
Vanderbilt's constitution, and he resolved to bend his energies to 
practical farming. 

With characteristic promptness and determination the decision 
was no sooner made than he entered at once upon his new duties. 
An unimproved farm, no previous education or experience for the 
vocation, a profession which requires patience, sagacity, economy, 
and untiring lalK)r, — few men at the early age of twenty- one would 
^^ 209 



2 WILLIAM n. VAXDERBILT. 

have liad the courage to leave a banker's desk to grapple seriously 
with the responsibilities and difficulties of the undertaking. But 
his motto has always been, never to attempt what he could not do, 
and never to fail when work would win. 

The sun found him in the fields and left him there. Among the 
first to work and the last to leave, he directed the w^hole, and yet 
permitted none to do more than himself. The first seventy-five acres 
subdued and cultivated, he extended his labors until in a few years 
he had three hundred and fifty acres in the best managed and most 
profitable farm on Staten Island. The wastes and barrens were 
transformed into a garden, and yielded to the ownier a large 
annual income. Qualities so marked and results so manifest could 
not fail to impress the community. 

The Staten Island Railroad Company, whose existence was of 
the utmost importance to the development of the Island, was over- 
whelmed with debts and embarrassments. By the unanimous sug- 
gestion of all parties interested, Mr. Yanderbilt was appointed 
receiver of the company. Here he first gave promise of the talent 
which has made him one of the first railroad men of the continent. 

In two years he had paid ofi" the claims against the Staten Island 
Company, connected it with New York by an independent ferry, 
and placed it upon a secure and permanent financial basis ; and the 
grateful stockholders pressed upon him the presidency of the road. 
He continued to administer successfully the affairs of the Company, 
until called away by fraternal love and duty. His brother George 
had gone abroad for his health, and William resigned his position 
and went to Europe to furnish the care and attention which none 
but a brother could bestow. But all that loving thoughtfulness 
could do proved unavailing, and William returned to enter again 
upon his busy career. In 1864 he was elected vice-president of 
the New York and Harlem Railroad Company, and the following 
year of the Hudson River Railroad Company. From this time 
forward his life has been part of the railway history of the country. 
At once the executive officer, confidant, and son of the Commo- 

210 



WILLIAM H. VANDERBILT. 3 

dore, he has been the eiScient and able assistant through whom the 
far-reaching and comprehensive plans of that mastermind have been 
carried into quick and successful execution. Familiarizing himself 
with every detail and personally supervising every department, he 
stopped the leaks, reduced the expenditures, and increased the busi- 
ness of these roads, until their progress is unequaled by any similar 
enterprises in the Kepublic. 

The Harlem Eoad, wliich was bankrupt when the Vanderbilts 
became its owners, has become one of the best equipped and best 
paying railroads in the State. 

The Hudson River Railroad has trebled in value since Mr. 
Yanderbilt assumed its management. 

The Commodore, having secured a controlling interest in the 
New York Central Railroad, resolved that for convenience in the 
transaction of business, and facility in meeting competition, the line 
from New York to Buffalo should be continuous. In 1869, he con- 
solidated the Central with the Hudson River Company, creating a 
corporation of unrivaled wealth and power. This magnificent road, 
with ninety millions of dollars of capital, with seven hundred miles 
of double-track in its main lines and its branches — doing a business 
which earns, gross, twenty- three millions a year — running through 
the heart of the first State in the Union, and affecting every enter- 
prise and interest throughout the Commonwealth— requires for it« 
management faculties of the highest order. In full appreciation of 
and confidence in his ability, Mr. Yanderbilt was named, in the 
articles of consolidation, its vice-president and executive oflacer. 

Mr. Yanderbilt w^as married in the year 1811 to Miss Kissam, 
of New York, a lady of more than ordinary personal attractions, 
with rare qualities of heart and head, a model wife and mother. 
They have eight children, of whom the eldest, Cornelius Yander- 
bilt, Jr., is now Treasurer of the Harlem Railroad, and following 
worthily in the footsteps of his grandfather and father ; and their 
second son, William K., a young man of great promise, having 
fiui^]led his studies at (reneva, Switzerland, has already entered 

211 



4 WILLIAM H. VANDERBILT. 

upon and is satisfactorily discharging the duties of an important 
position in the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad 
Company. 

The absorbing cares and many activities of later years have not 
affected Mr. Vanderbilt's love for agriculture. When he began to 
interest himself in railroads, he had brought his farm to a con- 
dition where it no longer required his personal labor, but he has 
never ceased to manage it, and has always remained, practically as 
well as theoretically, a farmer. It is there he goes for recreation 
and change of work, and the knowledge of the laws of demand and 
supply governing the trade of the country, which his experience 
and observations have given him while in this pursuit, has been of 
incalculable benefit in enabling him to master the great question 
of transportation East and West. 

The magnitude of his responsibilities and the calls upon his time 
would seem sufficient to occupy all his thoughts, but he has neg- 
lected no opportunity for culture in the nobler realms of study. In 
the three visits which he has made to the Old World, he has im- 
proved by close observation of its masterpieces a natural taste for 
art, and in its gratification he finds the highest pleasure. He has 
proved a discriminating and liberal patron of home talent, and the 
works in his possession attest his judgment and taste. 
• He is now in the prime of life, in full health and vigor, and in a 
position of influence and power which mark out for him a future of 
extraordinary promise. A genial gentleman, liberal in his charities, 
generous in his hospitality, popular with all classes of people, and 
surrounded by hosts of friends — should his life and health be spared, 
there is nothing within the scope of his ambition to which he may 
not reasonably aspire. 

212 



ALFEED S. BARITES, 




"HE outlines of history, like the outlines of a map, convey to 
the mind but general and vague impressions. They 
are instructive and valuable in the narration and phi- 
losophy of events ; they impress us with the great onward move- 
ment of which we form a part : but it is the elements only which 
address themselves to our individuality, to our more perfect appre- 
hension, and to our warmer sympathies. Biographies are these ele- 
ments of history. 

When we witness the wonderful results of steam, we involuntarily 
ask ourselves, to whom is the world indebted for this new applica- 
tion of power ? When w^e pass from ocean to ocean, over the ii-ou 
bands which now encircle the earth, we intuitively desire to know 
who originated the railroad ; and when we hold daily converse with 
distant continents over wires constructed by the hand of man, we are 
curious to learn who discovered the hidden law of nature which ac- 
complishes these great results. History, therefore, is incomplete, 
without biugraphy. 

The desire of the public to know something of those who have 
contributed to the great developments of the present ago is, there- 
fore, but natural and philosophical ; and it is to gratify, in some 
measure, this desire, that the present volume is published. 

There is, perhaps, no department of enterprise and industry 
■which has been more marked in its development, within the past 
thirt}'' years, than that of the publication of School-Books. For- 
merly, a little store, stocked with a few spelling-books, a few arith- 
metics, and an assortment of readers, was the exponent both of gen- 
eral intelligence and of trade. Now, a respectable book-establish- 

213 



2 ALFRED S. BARNES. 

ment embraces a list of several hundred works on literature and 
science — elementary and profound treatises on all subjects of 
knowledge — printing presses, in large numbers, impelled by steam 
— and workmen of all grades— and from such an establishment the 
public is supplied daily with thousands of volumes, which are 
distributed through the channels of trade not only over a continent 
but throughout the whole world. 

The firm of A. S. Barnes & Co. is a leading house of this class. 
It sprang into existence, about tliirty years ago, under the guidance 
of its now senior partner, Alfred S. Barnes. It has been directed 
mainly, through its entire growth and development, by his energy 
and wisdom, aided largely, it is true, by the advice and labors of 
others. A brief notice of such a person and of such an establish- 
ment, is a leaf in history which ought certainly to be written. 

Tlie parents of Mr. Barnes were of New England origin. The 
father, Eli Barnes, was a native of Southington, in Hartford County, 
Connecticut. He was a farmer in early life. At a later period, he 
became a merchant, and removed to New Haven, where he died in 
1827, leaving a widow and five children. The mother was a native 
of New Haven County, and before her marriage bore the name of 
Morris. She was a daughter of pious parents, and a worthy mem- 
ber of a godly race. In her widowhood she was not alone. She 
trusted in pious confidence to Him who hears the pniyers of the 
afflicted and pours the oil of gladness into sorrowing hearts. Her 
labors were crowned by the highest rewards. Her family grew up 
under her care and under the influence of her pure and earnest life. 
She impressed upon them the convictions of a religious mind, and 
that life had duties which must be done ; and these convictions not 
only guarded them from evil, but conducted them to honorable 
success. 

The subject of this notice was the second son of tliis family, and 
was born at New Haven, January 28, 1817. At the age of eleven 
years, he was placed under the care of his uncle, in the city of 
Hartford. Here he enjoyed the advantages of attending school 

214 



ALFRED S. BARNES. 3 

during the winter, and of laboring on a farm during tlie summer 
season. Thus manual labor and intellectual discipline -were com- 
bined in forming habits of industry, and laying the foundations of 
future usefulness. 

At the age of sixteen he was placed as a clerk in the bookstore 
of D. F. Robinson of Ilartford, then one of the leading pnblishing 
houses of the country. At this time his professional education was 
begun. He was received with cordiality into the family of Mr. 
Robinson, where the influences of a Christian home, and the kind 
solicitude of an able and an accomplished lady developed the early 
impressions which a pious mother had inspired. 

In the year 1835, the publishing house of D. F, Robinson & Co., 
was removed to New York. Here Mr. Barnes completed his clerk- 
ship, and caught the first glimpses of that extensive business which 
is carried on by leading houses at the centers of trade and com- 
merce. 

Soon after the completion of his clei'kship he received, from a 
friend, a letter of introduction to Professor Charles Davies, formerly 
of West Point, and then residing in the city of Hartford. The 
acquaintance resulted in an an-angement for the publication of 
Professor Davies' mathematical works, then embracing his Arith- 
metics, Algebra, Geometry, Surveying, Analytical Geometry, 
Shades, Shadows, and Perspective ; and the Differential and Inte- 
gral Calculus. 

The house of A. S. Barnes & Co., of M'hich Mr. Barnes was the 
business partner, and of which Professor Daviet> received a portion 
of the profits in addition to a fixed copyright, was established in 
February, 1838, in the city of Ilartford, in a small room on Pearl 
Street, measuring 20 feet by 12. Here in this small room, and 
without any cash capital, was the origin and birthplace of that 
extensive publishing establishment, which now combines a large 
capital with machinery and labor, manufacturing, annually, several 
millions of volumes, and distributing them throughout all the chan- 
nels of education and intelligence of a great continent. 

215 



4 ALFREDS. BARNES. 

Mr. Barnes employed most of the two following years in visiting 
colleges, academies, and scLools in all parts of the country, and 
calling their attention to the Mathematical Course of Professor 
Davies, then the only course in the country laying any claim to a 
complete system. He also availed himself of these opportunities of 
forming business connections with booksellers at important points, 
and soliciting their co-operation in the introduction of a system of 
mathematics which had its origin at the Military Academy at West 
Point, and which promised to go into general use. In the mean 
time Professor Davies employed himself in improving his higher 
course then completed, and in supplementing it by a course, less 
extended, for academies and high schools ; so that the common 
schools, the academies, and the colleges should have within their 
reach, each a full and complete system, adapted to its wants, all 
constructed on the same principles and in perfect unity with each 
other. The publication of this series laid the foundation for the 
great success of the house of A. S. Barnes & Co., to which the good 
understanding and cordial co-operation between author and publisher 
have largely contributed. 

In the year 1S40 Mr. Barnes opened a bookstore in Philadelphia, 
and in 1842 the manufacturing establishment was also transferred 
to that city. 

In the spring of 1855 the entire establishment was permanently 
located in the city of New York, at the corner of John and Dutch 
streets, where the manufacturing is still carried on ; the lirm having 
removed to their splendid salesrooms and store, on the corner of 
John and William streets. 

In the year 1848, Professor Davies retired from all business con- 
nections with the firm, and Mr. Edmund Dwight became associated 
with Mr. Barnes as partner. In the spring of 1S49, he was suc- 
ceeded by Mr. Henry L. Burr, a brother-in-law of Mr. Barnes, who 
continued a partner until his death, in July, 1865, Mr. Burr 
brought to the concern the ability and the experience of a skillful 
merchant, and the instincts and culture of a gentleman. In tho 

216 



ALFRED S. BARNES. 5 

trying commercial convulsions 9f 1857, and the more terrible civil 
convulsions of 1860 and 1861, he gave to the senior partner the aid 
and support of wise and courageous counsels, and did his full share 
in the heroic labors that were required to pilot so large a craft 
safely through such dreadful storms. His early death made a large 
space in the profession to which he belonged and filled many hearts 
with grief and sorrow. 

In 1866, John C. Barnes, the brother, and Alfred C. Barnes, the 
son, were admitted as partners; and in 1867, Henry W. Curtis, 
and in 1868, Henry B. Barnes, a second son, were also made part- 
ners. The firm, therefore, at present, consists of five partners. 
The ISTew York House has also a branch house in Cliicago, con- 
ducted by Charles J. Barnes, a nephew of the senior partner. 

Yery soon after the removal of the firm to New York, they 
formed the phm of publishing a full and complete series of school 
books, embracing every department of elenumtary and advanced 
education. This series they named " The National Series of 
Standard School-Books." 

Besides Davies' Course of Mathematics, already referred to, the 
list embraces a full series of Headers, by Parker and Watson ; a 
Geographical Series by Monteith and McNally ; a history of the 
United States, large and small, and a Universal History in per- 
spective, by Mrs. Emma Willard ; Treatises on Physics and 
Astronomy, by Professor Bartlett, of West Point ; works on 
Analytical Geometry, the Calculus, Descriptive Geometry and its 
applications, by Professor Church ; and several works by Profes- 
sor Peck, of Columbia College. To these must be added the series 
of Professor Steele, entitled " Fourteen Weeks in the Sciences," 
Worman's German and French Classics, and about thirty volumes 
on educational subjects for school teachers' libraries — making, in 
all, about three hundred educational works, reaching from the 
elementary primer to the most advanced treatises on education, 
science, and art. The firm also publish the music-books used in 
most of our churches : viz., Beecher's Congregational Plymouth 

217 



Q ALFRED S. BARNES. 

Collection ; Robinson's PresLyteriun Songs for the Sanctuary ; and 
Episcopal Common Praise. Of these, nearly half a million are now 
used, in the Sabbath and in the evening services of the Evangel- 
ical denominations. 

The success of Mr, Barnes, as the head of a large publishing es- 
tablishment, does not prove positively that he has been otherwise 
successful, and discharged with iSdelity other and more important 
duties of life. A ledger showing large profits is not the best 
record even of a merchant. There are other records, made else- 
where, more enduring and more highly prized. A sagacious in- 
tellect, moved by ambition to great activity and industry, will 
often accomplish temporary and brilliant success; but moral prin- 
ciples and religious convictions are necessary to a true place in 
history. 

The important step in life, which gives influence and direction 
to all that follows, is not taken in the counting-room. It is the 
step which transfers the young man to the head of a family, and 
imposes upon him the responsibilities and duties of a household. 
And here, Mr. Barnes received from Providence its most precious 
blessings. 

On the 10th of ]S'ovember, 1841, he was married to Miss 
Harriet E. Burr, daughter of the late General Timothy Burr, of 
Rochester, New York. In this marriage were combined all that 
is necessary to a successful and happy future. There was entire 
agreement in the general plan of life — a deep religious feeling — a 
conviction that life has duties and responsibilities reaching beyond 
the present hour, and that children are born to immortality. Of 
these, there are ten, five sons and five daughters. 

We were present at the celebration of the silver wedding. The 
parlors were filled with pious and loving friends, merrily chatting 
with each other, when suddenly the parlor doors were opened, and 
the family, led by their parents, came in to greet and cheer us. 
We shall never forget that beautiful sight — the sons on the one 
side with their father, and the daugliters on the other with their 

218 



ALFRED S. BARXES. 7 

mother, and one grandchild, like a little flower just appearing 
above the ground. A clergjanan present expressed the conmiun 
sentiment of us all, when he said that the family and the scene 
reminded him of a sun-dial, which he had seen in an European 
city, bearing this inscription : " I record only the hours that are 
pleasant." 

The writer is not insensible to the sacred character of that veil 
which hangs around the domestic circle ; but he has felt that, with- 
out slightly raising it, he could not well explain why Mr. Barnes, 
after six days of toil in the counting-room, should be found stead- 
ily on the Sabbath at the church and Sunday-school. Why, in 
the days of short receipts as well as in those of abundant means, 
he hatl always something to spare for religious culture and the 
churches ; and why, amid a press of business in New York, he has 
found time to do his whole duty to the city of Brooklyn, where he 
has long and permanently resided. lie has meant to raise it only 
so far as is necessary to the fullness and truth of history. ,No ac- 
count of the house of A. S. Barnes & Co. would be intelligible, 
without some knowledge of the motives and inner springs that 
have contributed so largely to its success. 

319 




/^^L-^*--^^^-v^ /2/^ 




THUELOW WEED. 

This sketch was written in 1852, and has never been published before. 

HUPvLOW WEED was bora at Catslvill, K Y., in 1797, of 
poor parents, whom he h)st earlj in life, and was thrown 
upon his own resources. Ilis education was obtained in the 
very common schools of his childish days, to which he may have 
devoted six months in all, graduating as " boy" on a North River 
sloop, and thence being promoted to the station of " devil" in a 
country printing-office ; his first lessons in the " art preservative 
of arts" having been taken on a little newspaper then conducted by 
the late Colonel William L. Stone, in after years the editor of the 
Commercial Advertiser of this city. He did not remain here long. 
Colonel Stone and his paper being "Federal" in politics, while the 
young apprentice was a violent "Democrat" and stormy advocate 
of a war with Great Britain. When that war came, young Weed, 
now sixteen years of age, enlisted as a drummer boy, and served on 
the northern frontier. He returned to his trade on leaving the 
camp, became a fair compositor and most efficient pressman, for 
which his athletic frame and muscular force gave him unusual 
capacity. He worked some time in this city with James Harper 
(now ex-mayor and head of the publishing house of Harper & 
Brothers) as his partner ; press- work being then done on a " Ramage " 
with balls, the partners "beating" and "pulling" a "token" 
alternately, and Harper being one of the most resolute, untiring 
workers in the city, twelve tokens a day, (three thousand im- 
pressions) was their usual limit. Weed soon returned to the coun- 
try, married and oomraenced a country newspaper, printing some 

221 



2 THURLOWWRED. 

years in Onondaga County, afterward at Norwich, Chenango County. 
In the new political classification of the day, Weed was a " Clinto- 
nian " being an early and ardent friend of the canal policy which 
was then identified with the fortunes of Governor De Witt Clinton. 

He made nothing but debts by his successive attempts at country 
journalizing, the country' being new, readers poor and scattered, and 
newspapers superabundant. The counties in which his attempts 
were made generally sided with the " Bucktails," allowing him no 
chance of official advertising. So 1824 found him again a jour- 
neyman printer, working for seven oreightdolhirsaweek in Albany, 
and, on this, supporting a family now considerably numerous, while 
lie was penniless and in debt. 

This was the year of the memorable Presidential struggle with 
Crawford, Adams, Jackson, Clay, and (in the earlier stages) Calhoun 
in the field as candidates, though " caucus" and " anti-caucus" were 
the leading watch-words of the fray. A " Republican " caucus com- 
posed of sixty-six members of Congress, or about one fourth of the 
whole number, and less than one-third of the so-called "Repub- 
licans," had nominated William H. Crawford, of Georgia, as the "Re- 
publican " candidate, and the legitimacy and binding force of such 
nomination was warmly contested. The " Bucktail " party in New 
York, then overwhelmingly ascendant, generally sustained the cau- 
cus, of which its leader, Martin Yan Buren, had been a member, 
with several of his colleagues. The " Clintonians " violently 
denounced the caucus, and were joined in this by a faction of the 
"Bucktails" the coalition taking the name of the " People's party," 
and demanding that the choice of Presidential electors, thereto- 
fore and still by law confided to the Legislature, should now be 
given to the people. The Crawford " Bucktails" believing themselves 
sure of choosing their electors by the Legislature, and apprehending 
defeat if they remitted the choice to the people, determinedly 
resisted the change, which, though repeatedly carried in the House, 
was as often stopped in the Senate, where Silas Wright had just 
made his appearance as a " Bucktail " from the Northern District, 

222 



THURLOWWEED. 3 

and begun to develop his rare abilities as a politician. Erastus 
Root and Azariah C. Flagg were likewise " Bncktail " leaders in 
the two houses, matched by James Tallmadge and Henry Wheaton 
on the side of the " People's party." A tremendous political excite- 
ment was generated by the discussions of the time, wliich resulted 
in the choice of De Witt Clinton for governor by sixteen thousand 
majority over Colonel Samuel Young, and James Tallmadge lieu- 
tenant-governor by some thirty thousand over Erastus Hoot. The 
Legislature was likewise swept by the " People's party," though the 
Senate continued " Bucktail " through the preponderance of mem- 
bers holding over ; but tlie electors were still to be cliosen by the 
old Legislature, strongly "Bucktail." Yet, by a secret coalition 
between the " People's party" who were for Mr. Adams, and the ''An- 
ti-Caucus Bucktails " whose lirst choice was Mr. Clay, the " Caucus" 
party were signally defeated by a fine majority, only four of their 
electors slipping in, while twenty-five Adams men, seven Clay men, 
and one claimed by several parties but who finally concluded to 
vote alone for General Jackson, were chosen. And the master- 
spirit by whose agency this coalition was effected, and the sanguine 
expectations of the " Caucus " party frustrated, was Thurlow Weed, 
the poor journeyman printer of Albany. 

He singly detected and baffied successive intrigues by which the 
vote of New York was to be made sure for Crawford, one of them 
involving the direct bribery of a member; he printed in solitary 
secrecy the mixed Adams and Clay ticket which was used in joint 
ballot (after the House had nominated "Adams" and the Senate 
"Crawford" electors); and so perfectly was every thing managed, 
that when, in the joint meeting, the president, as he counted out 
the ballots, announced in amazement " a printed split ticket !" 
the entire " Caucus " party was paralyzed by a blow whereof they 
had no previous suspicion. Had Thurlow Weed been pursuing his 
trade elsewhere than in Albanj-, John Q. Adams would never have 
been President ; yet he probably never knew the fact. 

Mr. Weed struggled on in poverty and want throughout his ad- 

223 



4 THURLOW WEED. 

ministration, when even the berth of an inspector of customs 
would have been deemed by him a fortune. 

Soon after this election, Weed removed to Rochester, and there 
became editor of a daily paper at eight dollars per week. The 
abduction and presumed death by violence of William Morgan, of 
Batavia, took place in 1826-7 ; and Weed, with most of the people 
of Western New York, were deeply excited thereby, and formed 
an Anti-Masonic party. Weed became editor of its Rochester 
organ the " Anti-3fasonic Enquirer.'''' He was twice elected to 
the Assembly from Monroe County : once while a journeyman, again 
after he had become an independent editor, though still very poor. 
In 1830 an Anti-Masonic daily, semiweekly, and weekly State paper, 
entitled " The Alhany Evening Journal'"' was started at the capi- 
tal, by the contributions of leading friends of the cause, and Thur- 
low Weed returned to Albany as its editor on a salary of* one thou- 
sand dollars a year — a sum far exceeding the income he had en- 
joyed at any time previous. 

He was now in the full vigor of manhood, thoroughly qualified 
for his vocation by a varied experience, an instinctive knowledge 
of men, and a profound sympathy with popular instincts and 
aspirations. 

Never a rapid or profuse writer, he wrote tersely, pointedly, 
spicily, and his journal w-as immediately recognized as one of the 
most pungent and efi'ective partisan batteries ever opened on a self- 
confident yet not quite invincible adversary. The popularity of 
General Jackson and the unpopularity of the United States Bank 
combined to keep the Joui'nal and its editor for seven years in a 
minority ; yet their influence was even then vast and steadily in- 
creasing ; and when, in 1837, the State came round by a political 
revolution equivalent to that of 1824, they were every where recog- 
nized as the most effective agencies in securing that transformation. 
When, in 1839, the Whigs obtained full control of the State, Mr. 
Weed was made State Printer without a competitor or dissenting 
voice in the party, and flrom the appointment thus secured to 

224 



THURLOWWEED. 5 

Ilim for four years, he is understood to liave realized a moderate 
competence. 

He some time afterward became one-third owner in the Journal 
establishment, which had now become and still continues prosperous 
and remunerative, so that he might ere this have been rich if he had 
not been profusely liberal in charities to the poor and in indorse- 
ments for friends. These have diminished his estate but not de- 
])rived him of competence. He is still numbered among that small 
class who may well be deemed rich because they know they have 
enough. He has never sought and v.'ould not accept a re-election as 
State Printer ; has declined a nomination as mayor, persistently urged 
upon him, and has uniformly rebuked, with a sensitiveness evidently 
deep and painful, the repeated suggestions of his name as a candi- 
date for governor. Incapacity for public speaking is one of the 
reasons assigned by him for peremptorily declining office. 

Mr. Weed's unequal ed influence over his own party in the State, 
often evinced in its conventions and legislative proceedings, has inev- 
itably^ subjected him to wide-spread jealousy and hostility. Every 
"Whig aspirant who has not been successful in winning popular favor 
or official position is ])retty certain to attribute his disappointment 
to " The Dictator." The feuds thus engendered have at times so em- 
bittered liis existence that he has seriously meditated the abandon- 
ment of liis journal and of journalism, and the devotion of the remain- 
der of his years to his family and friends on a Western farm. His 
warm personal and political attachment to his early friend, William 
II. Seward, and the urgent remonstrances of other friends have 
barely prevented hitherto such a termination of his public career. 
His health has not been good for some years past and he has suffered 
from an iilcurable enlaro;ement of the blood-vessels of his right leir. 
He made a trip to Europe with primary reference to this complaint, 
some years since but without avail. He spent the last winter in a 
more deliberate tour through Great Britain, France, Italy, and Ger- 
many, returning in July of the present year. 

Mr. Weed has probably a larger personal acquaintance and can 
15 225 



6 THUR LOW WEED. 

call more men bj name than any other living American, and is not 
surpassed by any man living in the number of his devoted, enthusi- 
astic friends. In person he is tall, large, and of dark complexion. 
He has a slight impediment in his speech, though it is seldom obvi- 
ous. His wife survives, with three daughters — two of then.) 
married; but his only son, James, a yomig man of twenty-five, very 
like his father, and warmly beloved by him, died a Httle more 
than one year ago. 

226 




LELAE^D STAIsTFOED. 

f^?IIETHER it be true or not tliat the world knows little 
of its greatest men, certain it is that California knew 
.3^^!." little of her foremost man till very recently. He who in 
the quickly coming future was to be her wisest and most states- 
manlike Governor, he who was to build the Pacific Railroad I'or 
her, whose destiny it was and is, to carry the locomotive thi'ough 
all her great valleys, and thereby fill them with settlements, 
towns, cities, an industrious people, and a new civilization, was a 
quiet unobtrusive merchant in Sacramento, as late as the year 18G0, 
scarcely known except to his neighbors, customers, and a few busi- 
ness correspondents. Leland Stanford never held an ofiice until he 
was elected Governor. He would not take a renomination. ffiving: 
as his reason, " Because I had rather be President of the Central 
Pacific Railroad than to be President of the United States." Ho 
probably felt that if he succeeded in the stupendous work of uniting 
the confines of our broad Republic with a bridge of iron, his name 
would cut so deep a score in history, that any political ofiice he 
might fill would be forgotten dust by the side of it. Did not he in 
his laudable ambition form a proper estimate of true fame ? He who 
has succeeded in doing some great thing productive of good to a 
whole country, will live in the memory of the people when presi- 
dents and governors are remembered no more. Other men may im- 
prove upon what he has originated or accomplished, but they can 
never eclipse his fair renown. As, for instance, ships larger and far 
better have since been built, and have been commanded by learned 
navigators, but in all the world there has been but one Columbus. 
Other canals of greater capacity than the Erie, as it was first con- 
structed, have since been built in the United States, but there has 

221 



2 LELAND STANFORD. 

uever "been but one De Witt Clinton. 'No Pacific Railroad of the 
future, however grand, will take anything from the glory and 
lienor of the first ; and there never will be but one Leland Stan- 
ford. His was the energy that never wearied ; his the patience 
never exhausted, and his the faith that could never be shaken 
in the final triumph of the mighty work he had said in his 
heart he would do. Difiiculties that would have crushed every 
hope in the breasts of most men, he encountered and put aside as 
only a giant could. Opposition in Wall street, and violent opposi- 
tion from prominent men of his own State pursued him from the 
very beginning of the Pacific Railroad enterprise. At times it rolled 
mountain hi'di in its strivin^-s to combat and ruin Mr. Stanford's 
Company, but he rose superior to it all. His strength of will, and 
that power of imagination which enabled him to see far and cor- 
rectly into the future, added to a mind of ahnost unlimited 
resources, carried him successfully through the most difiicult finan- 
cial, and engineering problems that without doubt any railroad 
builder was ever required to solve. How often the Central Pacific, 
in its earlier days tottered on the verge of bankruptcy,, or how often 
it seemed as if every precipice and mountain spur in its pathway 
had found a tongue to say to its invading army of graders and 
tracklayers, '' Thus far shalt thou come but no further," only those 
who are near to Mr. Stanford, and in his confidence, can ever know. 
But the road has been built in spite of all obstacles, and it now 
stands a ftir more eloquent eulogy to the genius and rare qualities 
of the man who did so much to make it a success, than any mere 
words can bestow. 

Leland Stanford was born about eight miles from the City of 
Albany, State of New York, March 9, 1824. He is the fourth of 
seven brothers, all of whom are still living, save one. His ancestors 
came over from England more than fifty years before the American 
Revolution broke out, and settled in the Mohav/k Yalley. They 
were farmers of good repute, thrifty and industrious. Five genera- 
tions of them have lived to till the soil of the Empire State. Josiah 

228 



LELAND STANFORD. 3 

Stanford, the father of Leland, was a man of marked public spirit 
and enterprise. Besides cuUivating his farm, he took contracts for 
building roads and bridges in all parts of his native country. He 
was among the Urst advocates of the Erie Canal, and watched its 
progress and completion with the keenest interest. lie saw with 
prophetic eye that it was but the beginning of that vast system of 
internal improvements that was to make his State so famous. In 
1828 the locomotive burst upon the world like a miracle. More 
than all the agencies of previous times combined, it came charged 
with a power to revolutionize commei'ce, and to immeasurably im- 
prove man's social and physical condition. The great news of the 
success of George Stephenson's locomotive engine, " the Rocket," 
on the Manchester and Liverpool road, hud crossed the Atlantic but 
a few months, before a charter was obtained in 1829 from the 
Legislature of New York, for a railroad between Albany and Schen- 
ectady. Josiah Stanford was among the foremost in the new enter- 
prise, lie took large contracts for grading, and pushed forward the 
work with the greatest vigor, and from that day to this the Stan- 
fords have more or less been engaged in the lionorable business of 
railroad building. One of them commenced v/ork on the first iron 
road built in the United States, and one, the subject of this sketch, 
and a son of that pioneer, forty years later, drove with his own ha;nd 
the last spike of the great Pacific Railroad. The Albany and 
Schenectady Railroad, 15 miles in length, now forms One of the 
links in the overland road, which measures three thousand three 
hundred miles between the Atlantic and the Pacific. What the 
father commenced his son gloriously completed two score of years 
afterward. Grand coincidence. Precious heir loom of which any 
royal family might be proud, is this. Till he was twenty years of 
age, Leland's time was divided between the healthful occupations of 
a farm life and his studies. At school he is well remembered as a 
rosy, largo, handsome boy, genial, affectionate and popular. Ilia 
happy temperament and sweet disposition made him a special 
favorite with his young associates. As a scholar ho did not strive 

229 



4 LELAND STANFORD. 

to acliieve a brilliant reputation. lie had little ambition to dazzle 
or shine ; conjugations, translations, and the mere rules of the books 
he studied, were bitter and distasteful to his practical mind. He 
could remember things, but was apt to forget the words that encased 
them. He stored his mind richly with facts, but not with forms. 
From the time he was old enough to reason and reflect, he accepted 
nobody's conclusions till he had investigated for himself. Such has 
been his habit through life. This independence of thought, added 
to original views, which, in the fulness of his manhood, he has 
formed on nearly every social, financial, and political question 
of the day, has made him pre-eminently a thought producing and 
not a thought repeating man. He was never known to make a 
quotation in all he has ever written or spoken, yet he is well read 
in the writings of our best modern authors. Books that treat on 
the philosophy of history, social statistics and political economy, as 
developed during the last three centuries, he prefers. The works 
of John Stuart Mill, Herbert Spencer, and Sir William Hamilton, 
he delights to read, though he does not hesitate to reject, as so much 
sophistry, some of the theories and arguments advanced by these 
writers. It is to be regretted that a man self-nurtured on the most 
advanced ideas of the age, and at the same time possessed of such 
a discriminating and conservative breadth of mind, has not written 
more than he has for publication. But Mr. Stanford, early in his 
life, adopted this as his motto : " It's not what a man says so much 
as what he does "that makes him useful to the world." He has been 
a doer. And though for years his heart and brain have been filled 
with one great absorbing purpose, yet there have always been side 
tracks to his mind on which his thoughts have run in the intervals 
of sterner duties. Topics which are in no way kindred to the 
works he has devoted the balance of his life to perform ; he has 
analyzed and examined into, whenever a leisure hour would per- 
mit. And many there are who have been astonished at the knowl- 
edge he possesses on subjects which an active business man is 
generally supposed to know but little of. In school-boy days, he 

230 



LELAND STANFORD. 5 

never took to the dead languages. Indigestible and repulsive to 
him were all the technical rules and exceptions about the nomina- 
tive and accusative case, and Latin versification, and he fully agreed 
with the German wit, Heine, who said, '' How fortunate the Ro- 
mans were that they had not to learu Latin graminar,because, if they 
had done so, they never would have had time to conquer the world." 
Greek mythology and even mediseval history, to a mind like young 
Stanford's, were dry and mouldy crusts, compared to the rich and 
bountiful repasts to be found in the physical sciences, and in that 
new world, beautiful, and altogether lovely as it is, that chemistry 
and geology open up to us. Mathematics and the sciences were the 
life-blood of his studies and speculations wdiile at school. Not that 
he delighted in the abstract formulas of Euclid, or of the differ- 
ential and integral calculus, but rather in the sifting of evidence and 
the weighing of probabilities, of seeking principles and facts,and then 
working out the conclusions. These habits and peculiarities of the 
school-boy are dwelt upon somewhat at length here, because they 
are characteristic, and have become a part of the man. 

As a lawyer, as a merchant, as Governor, and as a railroad Presi- 
dent, Mr. Stanford has exhibited the same modes of thought, the 
same nice calculations, the same adherence to the real practical 
things of the world to the exclusion of all that is ancient ; the 
same belief in the present and future, while not thinking or caring 
particularly for the dead past, that w^ere his chief distinctions when 
he was a pupil in Albany. But like many other great men, his 
education really begun after it was supposed to have been closed. 
It was when he commenced to educate himself that he saw more 
clearly than ever how many hundred thousand things there are worth 
knowing in this world which are not found in school books. He 
devoured newspapers, listened to every lecture and speech made in 
the neighborhood of his home, and conversed ardently with every 
person who could enlighten him. His thirst for knowledge was 
boundless. Every fact that came in his way was seized and 
digested. Ilis memory strengthened under its new and increased 

231 



6 LEL AND STANFORD. 

burdens, wliilo contact with the world hardened and made sinewy 
every fibre of his intellect, and he rapidly grew to be a young man 
marked for his versatility and the excellence of his information. 
In 184:0 he entered the law office of Wheaton, Doolittlc & Hadley, 
eminent attorneys in the City of Albany. After three years of 
patient and hard study he was admitted to practice law in the 
Supreme Court of the State of ISTew York. Soon after this he re- 
moved to tlie West, determined to seek a new home on the frontier. 
lie settled at Port Washington, in the Northern part of the State 
of Wisconsin, and for four years was engaged in the practice of his 
profession at that place. Though moderately successful as a lawyer, 
it is not improbable that he had mistaken his calling. His brain 
was too much occupied with outside matters, for a profession which 
always demands constancy, and tlie closest attention as a condition 
of success. Besides, hair-splitting technicalities were distasteful to 
him. Nature never made him for a special pleader. But he studies 
deeply and broadly the philosophy of jurisprudence, the spirit more 
than the letter of the statute which would have made him a good 
legislator, and an excellent judge of what the law ought to be. In 
his practice the doctrine of Stare decisisy^^^ often in his way. New 
conditions, and a pul)lic policy that is constantly becoming more 
liberal and expanded, he always contended should have more 
weight in assisting to interpret the law, than mere former decisions, 
however numerous or musty they might be. But unfortunately for 
Lawyer Stanford, neither the bar nor the bench of his times was 
as progressive as he, and he felt fettered. Yet such was his perse- 
verance, that he would in all probability have continued through 
life in legal chains, had not a conflagration in the Spring of 1852 
swept out of existence all his wordly possessions, including his law 
library. Though disheartened at his loss, it was undoubtedly the 
most fortunate event of his life up to that time, for it was the cause 
of his emigration to California, and of his abandoning the legal pro- 
fession. It is said that had not want, discomfort and distress 
■warrants been busy at Stratford-on-Avon, Shakespeare himself 

232 



LELAND STANFORD. 7 

would probably liave continued killing calves and combing wool 
till bis deatb, and tbe world and posterity been no wiser for his 
having lived in it. And that had the Ethel boarding school turned 
out well, we had never heard of Samuel Johnson. Had the fire 
at Port Washington not destroyed Leland Stanford's library, and 
other property, the Pacific Railroad might not have been in exist- 
ence yet, and possibly not for the next half century. He arrived 
in California, July 12, 1852, and at once became associated in busi- 
ness with his brothers, three of whom had preceded him to the 
Pacific coast. They had established a mercantile liouse in Sacra- 
mento, and stores in several of the larger mining camps that were 
scattered over the State. 

The subject of this sketch was first stationed at Michigan Blufis, 
at that time a central business point in the great raining county cf 
Placer. Here he carried on an extensive trade, and though 
merchandising was an occupation he had no previous experience in, 
he still prospered exceedingly well at it. Scrupulously honest, and 
honorable in all h^s dealings, he speedily won the patronage of a 
good and increasing class of customers. His bland and affable 
manners, uncommon intelligence, and fine conversational powers, 
di'ew around him a host of warm friends. A kind neighbor and a 
good citizen, no man everleft that mountain country more regretted 
than was Mr. Stanford, when, in 1856, he removed to Sacramento to 
engage in mercantile pursuits on a larger scale. The house, of which 
he was a partner, soon took rank as amongst the largest and most 
substantial in California. Here he improved his business qualifica- 
tions very rapidly. Having become an importer, he watched the 
movements of trade in nearly all the markets of the world, sifted 
statistics, and weighed and measured the laws of supply and de- 
mand. He looked into tariffs and all legislation, State and National, 
of a financial character, and calculated the effects of it upon busi- 
ness. He made commerce a science, which he studies with all the 
ardor of an enthusiast. He extracted philosophy and financial 
wisdom from every fiuctuation in prices, and in short, became a 

233 



g LELAND STANFORD. 

first-class mercliant. The knowledge he acquired in trade was of 
inestimable value in his later and more public life and occupations. 
It was in his store, and while carrying on large transactions that he 
developed those powers of generalization ; that executive ability 
and organizing talent for which he has become so distinguished, 
and it may be said, unrivalled. But he was something more than 
a successful merchant. lie was a philanthropist, and a bold, out- 
Bpoken lover of freedom. Like Governor Andrew of Massachusetts, 
he could say that he never despised a man because he was poor, or 
because ho was ignorant, or because he was black. As a very large 
proportion of the population of California came from the Southern 
States, an anti-slavery man, before the late war, was almost as much 
ostracised in this young State as he would have been in South 
Carolina. But though it often cost him pleasant social relations, 
and loss of patronage, he never hesitated to avow his principles, 
nor to express his sympathy for the slave. He contributed largely 
of his means to bring into existence the Republican party of Cali- 
fornia, and for the support of that organization through its five 
years of continued and overwhelming defeats. Twice he was 
nominated against his wishes for office, once in '57, and again in 
'59, but the Republican ticket in neither of those years was scarcely 
heard of, nor mentioned ; the political contest being entirely be- 
tween the two wings of the Democratic party. In 1860 he was 
chosen a delegate to the Chicago Convention. lie there made the 
acquaintance of Abraham Lincoln, an acquaintance that ripened 
into an intimate friendship, which remained warm and unbrokeii 
till the President's martyred death. Being in Washington at the 
time of Mr. Lincoln's first inauguration, he remained there several 
weeks by special request of the President. During those perilous 
times, when the air was filled with revolution, trouble was antici- 
pated in California also, for it was known that preparations were 
being made to take her out of the Union. Mr. Lincoln was a wise 
and shrewd judge of men, and he readily saw that Mr. Stanford, 
above all others whom he had met, was the true representative 

234 



LELAND STANFORD. ^ 

man of tlie Pacific coast. The President, Secretary Seward, and 
other members of the cabinet, took him into their confidence, and 
followed his advice relative to nearly all the Federal appointments 
for, and as to what measures would preserve peace and loyalty in 
California. A most conscientious and capable adviser he undoubt- 
edly was. The policy he suggested, when adopted by the Govern- 
ment, produced the most satisfactory results, and the appointees 
made at his request, proved themselves, without exception, excellent 
ofllcers, abundantly qualified for their several positions. The laws 
of the United States were in no place better enforced than in Cali- 
fornia during the war. Learning, while in "Washington, that a 
movement was on foot to nominate him for Governor of his adopted 
State, he immediately wrote a letter declining the use of his name 
for that or any other political position. But his friends at home 
did not publish the letter as he requested them to do, and he was 
disappointed to find, on his return from the capital, that his nomi- 
nation to the first office in California was a foregone conclusion. 
Seeing that he was fairly in for it, and that there was no escape, 
he entered upon the contest with all the zeal and strength there was 
in him. Possessed of perfect physical health, and an iron constitu- 
tion, he was capable of traveling for days and nights together 
without rest or sleep. He visited personally about every important 
polling place in the State. Everywhere he went the people saw in 
him a man of great force of character and superior cultivation ; 
and by the influence of mind over mind, that " sign and signet of 
tlie Almighty to command," which he so largely possesses, thous- 
ands and tens of thousands were brought to believe in him and his 
cause. Seldom has there been a greater political revolution than 
that which he led in the Golden State in the summer and fall of 
18'J i, and on the waves of which he was elected Governor, receiving 
56,300 votes, while his highest competitor obtained but about 
33,000. At the last preceeding State election to this, the Ee- 
publicans did not carry a county, nor did they poll 9,000 
votes in all California, Two years later, with Stanford as their 

235 



10 LEL AND STANFORD. 

Standard bearer, the;^ increased their vote over six hundred per 
cent. 

There was great rejoicing over his election. It was welcomed 
as the beginning of a new and iniinitely better era. At last a man 
had been elevated to the Governorship who was not a trading poli- 
tician, nor a time serving demagogue, but a man who dared to do 
anything and everything it was right to do ; an honest, loyal man, 
who could no more tolerate corruption or allow disobedience to the 
laws than he could be a traitor to his country. Such men make the 
earth wholesome. Place one of them in command of a State and 
its political atmosphere at once becomes purified. Fresh and brae- 
inc as the mountain breezes is the air he breathes over the common- 
wealth and among his people. Worth more than all her gold mines 
was such a Governor to California, during the earlier and darker 
years of the late civil war. Treason, bold and defiant before his 
election, dissolved or slunk out of sight as soon as he had taken the 
oath of ofiice. Against this strong man it durst not raise its head. 
Yet Governor Stanford was ever tolerant of the opinion of others. 
He favored the largest liberty of thought and action when it did 
not plainly conflict with the constitution he was sworn to support 
He deplored the war as much as any one, and longed religiously for 
the reign of law and tranquility throughout the whole country. 

"Amid tbe church bells' sweet vibrations, 
He heard the voice of Christ say — peace," 

But he loved the Union more than peace, and believed that no sac- 
rifice was too great to preserve it. Almost the first topic discussed 
in his inaugural address was that which, next to his country, lay 
nearest to his heart, the Pacific Eailroad. He calls it " the great 
desideratum of California, the world and the age;" and in another 
place he remarks, ''no more could the commercial world dispense 
with the use of this road when once its relations have been regu- 
lated and accompanied by it, than could the West dispense with the 
great lakes and Eric canal, nor the Southwest with the Mississippi 

23G 



LELAND STANFORD. H 

river." His messages to the legislature are pressed full of inform- 
ation on every point of interest which touches the welfare of the 
State. Nowhere are there to be found public documents contain- 
ing less emptiness or surface writing. His State papers abound in 
weighty sentences and practical ideas. They are clear, methodical 
and exhaustive essays on a vast number of topics, relative to the 
wants, industries, institutions, and conditions of a young and grow- 
ing commonwealth. For instance, in one of his addresses he writes 
learnedly and well on the following subjects : State finances and 
taxation, federal relations, geological survey, agriculture, manufac- 
tures, emigration, mines and mining laws, grape culture, harbor de- 
fences, reform schools, codification of the laws, Chinese labor, edu- 
cation and the common school system, forest and timber lands, 
swamp and overflowed lands, Indian affairs, State militia, public 
buildings, insane asylums and charitable institutions. The fact of 
a man who had never held office before he became Governor, pos- 
sessing knowledge and statistics sufficient to clearly state the whole 
truth, and be considered good authority on all the above-named sub- 
jects, is the best evidence of the close observer and deep thinker he 
has been from boyhood. Up to the year 1862, a large amount of 
land in the most fertile regions of California was held by persons 
whose only title to it was that of possession. By brute force the 
rightful owners of those lands were kept from occupying them, and 
the "squatters " had frequently seized and imprisoned with impu- 
nity, sheriffs and other officers of the law, who sought to eject them. 
Stanford was the first Governor who put down by the strong arm 
of the State the " squatter riots," and protected the lawful owners 
in their property. One of his last official acts was to recommend 
to the legislature the adoption of the United States paper in green- 
back currency in place of gold and silver, but public opinion was 
strongly opposed to the change, and his views were not sustained 
on this subject by the legislature. Time has vindicated the wisdom 
of his advice, and it is now admitted by all intelligent Californians 
that a I'igid adherence to a metallic cm-rency has done more to re- 

2;i7 



12 LELAND STANFORD. 

tard new enterprises and keep back the development of the Pacific 
coast than nearly all other causes combined. l>uring the adminis- 
tration of Governor Stanford the State debt of California was re- 
duced more than one half. A State Normal School was organized 
which has become a great power in the cause of education. Econ- 
omy, retrenchment, and reform were severely practised in all the 
public offices, and the State rejoiced in the blessings of prosperity, 
peace, and happiness. At the close of his term, the legislature be- 
stowed upon Governor Stanford the unusual compliment of a con- 
current resolution, passed by a unanimous vote of all parties, in 
which the Senate and Assembly returned him " the thanks of the 
people of California for the able, upright, and faithful manner in 
which lie discharged the duties of Governor of the State for the 
past two years." Said the leading newspaper of San Fransisco, as 
he was taking off the robes of his high office : " Now let Governor 
Stanford build us a Pacific railroad — if he do that speedily and well, 
the glory of the Governorship will be as tainted rusty brass, com- 
pared with his fame." Said the Chicago Tribune: " Build the Pa- 
cific railroad in twelve years, and no fifty years of our history will 
compare to it," and yet it was built in less than six years. 

Governor Stanford's name is so thoroughly interwoven in every 
part of this great work of the age ; his genius and energy are so con- 
spicuous in every step of its progress that to write a history of this 
iron highway of the nation, without making him the central figure, 
would be like the play of Hamlet, with the immortal Prince of 
Denmark left out. He it was who shovelled the first earth tliat 
commenced it, and he it was who drove the last spike that com- 
pleted it. 

The limits allowed to this biographical sketch will permit of but 
a few glances at the vast work done by the Central Pacific Kailroad 
Company, under the presidency of Leland Stanford. The Com- 
pany was organized in Sacramento, July 1st, 1861 ; one year from 
that date. Congress passed an act granting to that corporation a 
loan of bonds, averaging $35,000 per mile, principal and interest 

238 



LELAND STANFORD. 13 

to be repaid at tlie expiration of 30 years ; alternate sections of un- ~ 
occupied land on eitlier side of the road were donated to the com- 
pany absolutely. None of this subsidy could be obtained till fifty 
miles were completed and furnished with rolling stock. As all the 
iron and most of the other materials had to be transported from the 
Atlantic States, along two oceans and across a foreign country, on 
its way to California, but little work was done till the fall of 18G3, 
and it was not till July 1st, 18G4, that the first 31 miles were com- 
pleted. From this date commences the mighty struggle and trials 
of the Company. The next hundred miles of the route lay across 
a chain of mountains the most difiicult to pierce, grade and subdue 
of any in the world. Imagine a series of lofty cones rising one 
above another, till in a distance of 70 miles, an elevation is reached 
of 7,042 feet above the starting point, and that the proposition was 
to build a railroad up and across those mountain peaks, and down the 
other side into the valley, 3,000 feet below ; and some idea can be 
formed of the magnitude of almost the first work commenced by the 
Pacific Railroad Company. * 

Many engineers examined the proposed road and declared it im- 
possible to construct ; and Governor Stanford himself, once having 
climbed to the top of one of the snow-capped Sierras, exclaimed, 
with a sigh, as he looked down and around him, " Is it possible a 
railroad can be built here ? " But his depression was only momen- 
tary, for his penetrating eye quickly saw that those lofty piles of 
clay and granite when cut up could be made available in filling the 
chasms and precipices that yawned between. Besides, his was a 
faith that could, as it literally did, " remove mountains," and he 
never allowed himself to doubt afterward. And so armed with 
shovel and pick, powder and steel, did his army of workingmen go 
forth to battle with the everlasting hills that towered to the clouds 
above them. Greater than the army with which Cassar, 

" The foremost man in all the world," 

achieved his most brilliant victories, was that which for four long years 

239 



14- LELAND STANFORD. 

incessantly by night and by day, laid siege to the Sierras until they 
were bound in irons. During this time, sides of whole mountains 
were torn oiF, and many a granite hill of vast proportions blown to 
ten thousand pieces. On the brinks of precipices, down which they 
could sometimes look 1,600 feet, were the railroad builders fre- 
quently required to toil ; and at other times, amid avalanches of 
snow and ice, which had thundered down with awful velocity into 
their pathway from crags that seemed hung in the skies above them. 
But by the steady and well-directed storm of sweat and steam, ham- 
mer and drill, and the boom of blaststhat rocked the ground like an 
earthquake, the mountain barriers were finally battered down, and on 
the 2Sth day of August, 1867, the Locomotive ascended to the Sum- 
mit — a point higher than the top of Mount Washington, the loftiest 
peak in New England. On that day, congratulatory dispatches 
were received from many of the leading public men of the nation, one 
signed by Schuyler Colfax and Gov. Bross of Illinois, is as follows : 

" Chicago, Aug, 28th. To Hon. Leland Stanford. Our congrat- 
ulations on the completion of the Summit tunnel. The Locomotive 
crossing the Sierra Nevada Mountains marks one of the noblest tri- 
umphs of energy and enterprise ever known in history. All honor 
to you and to California." 

The cost of constructinoi: this 100 miles of railroad was not less 
than 820,000,000. The Government subsidy for the same distance 
only amounted to about one-fourth of that sum— and of course, the 
balance had to be procured elsewhere. Often the financial difiicul- 
ties of the company seemed insurmountable, and but for the hon- 
esty and remarkable ability which characterized the managers of 
the road, it would have been swamped before it had crossed the foot- 
hills. Capitalists who knew them saw that it would do to loan 
money to such men as Governor Stanford and his four or five asso- 
ciates: viz., Messrs. Crocker, Hopkins, and Huntington, and upon 
their individual credit, alone, millions of dollars were advanced to 
prosecute the great work. Having unbounded confidence in their 
integrity, the State of California, through its Legislature, donated 

240 



LELAND STANFORD. 15 

them without asking for conditions or security, $1,500,000 ; and 
fieveral of the counties of the State subscribed about as much more. 
Afterwards, the Company's Bonds were placed upon the great 
money markets of Europe and the Atlantic States, but the large 
money lenders of the East considered it a hazardous undertaking, 
and for a long time refused their much needed aid. This refusal 
was in many instances caused by the enemies of the Pacific Rail- 
road ; and, strange to say, there were many in California, who tried 
to neutralize every effort put forth by that Company. Proprietors 
of toll-roads, stage lines, and express companies, who were making 
fortunes out of the freight and passenger travel across the moun- 
tains to and from the silver regions of Nevada, knowing that all 
of their profits would disappear if the Pacific Railroad was built, 
pursued and made war upon Governor Stanford with sleepless vigi- 
lance. He felt their hostile influence in Washington, when he was 
trying to get the original bill passed. They annoyed his Company 
with injunctions and vexatious law-suits at every step of its pro- 
gress. Some of these men were millionaires, and therefore had 
no diflEiculty in raising large sums of money for supporting agents 
in Wall street and Europe, whose business it was to destroy, if pos- 
sible, the Company's credit abroad. But these trying embarrass- 
ments only seemed to bring out the masterly abilities of the great 
Railroad President. His enemies were checkmated by him in 
every move they made. He upset and demoralized every clique 
and corporation that dared to oppose him, and finally established a 
credit for his railroad in the money centres of the world second to 
no other company in the United States. The financial troubles of 
the Central Pacific once having been cleared away, its progress 
across and beyond the mountains was extremely rapid ; 530 miles 
were built in 293 days, ten miles of it in a single day — a feat un- 
precedented — showing the thorough discipline of the men who did 
it, and the perfect organization of the Company which controlled 
them. On the 10th day of May, 1860, on Promontory Mountain, 
at a spot overlooking Salt Lake, the last rail was laid and the last 
16 241 



16 LELAND STANFORD. 

5pike driven that finished the Pacific Eailroad. A Telegrapli wire 
was attached to the handle of the silver hammer used by Governor 
Stanford on that occasion, and as he struck the concluding blow which 
completed the great work — the event was instantly flashed to all parts 
of the United States. It was a day of national jubilee. Celebra- 
tions, ringing of bells, the roar of cannon, and vast processions all 
over the country, showed how joyfully the people welcomed the 
glad news. The hero of that day is well described by a newspaper 
corresponclent, who was present at the laying of the last Pacific 
rail, as follows : 

" Leland Stanford is a splendid specimen of American brain and 
muscle. He is large and imposing in stature, and weighs about 230 
lbs., has a massive deep head, prominent jaws, round close shut 
mouth, superlative grey eyes, forehead of Olympian height, dark 
skin fm*rowed with the evidences of responsibility and many cares. 
On every feature is written firmness, energy and intelligence. He 
looks like a man who had done a good deal, but who still felt that he 
had a good deal more to do. He has a pleasant musical voice and is 
an agreeable conversationist, can talk well on almost any subject that 
is suggested ; and is withal, I am told, something of a philosopher — 
though by no means a dreamer, as is evident by his wonderful 
achievements and success in life. Prom what I have seen of him 
during the past few days, I take liim to be emphatically what the 
Germans call, " a many sided man ;" that is, one who is capable of 
winning laurels in almost any practical work or calling that should 
happen to engage his talents and attention. A born leader of men, 
he undoubtedly is, having that indescribable something about him 
that creates followers and admirers wherever he may go." 

At the age of 20, he was married to Miss Jane Lathrop, daugh- 
ter of Dyer Lathrop, Esq., for many years a prominent merchant 
of Albany, New York. 

Mrs. Stanford is a most estimable lady — queenly in person, and 
endowed with an exalted sense of the duties of her high social 
position. Possessed of many domestic virtues, there is a daily 

242 



LELAND STANFORD. 17 

beauty in lier life and character wliich belongs only to those true 
women who are the nobility of their sex. 

Since the completion of the Central Pacific, its President 
has not been idle. lie has helped to establish woolen mills, 
sugar manufactories, and his name is at the head of the 
most prosperous insurance company in the State of California. 
The vast railroad organization which obeys his gentlest touch, 
as the keys of a piano obey every pulsation of the master's 
hand, has been so thoroughly systematized that most all of his time 
is required in its management. He is largely interested in the 
Southern Pacific Railway, and has assisted in advancing it very 
materially. His Company has purchased the Californian and Ore^ 
gon road, which is being rapidly pushed into the mountains that 
separate those two States. It has also purchased the Western road 
running between Sacramento and San Francisco, and it is building 
branch lines through nearly all the great valleys of California, 
Under the administration of Governor Stanford, the Central Pacific 
Railway has grown in the period of eight years, to be one of the 
largest and most powerful corporations in the world. Its capital 
stock, on the 1st of September, 1870, was $100,000,000, not x share 
of which could be purchased at par. Its earnings are nearly a 
million dollars per month. In its schedule of assets are found 
steamboats, ferries, and real estate, covering more square miles 
than there are in three of the INTew England States. Its rami- 
fications extend to China, Japan, India, and to all the important 
islands of the seas. In fact this road is revolutionizing the carry- 
ing trade of those countries. 

Yictor Hugo says that at Waterloo the world changed front. It 
changed front again — or rather the world's commerce did — when on 
Promontory Mountain the last rail of the Pacific Railroad was laid 
— and its Wellington was Leland Stanford. 

243 




THOMAS C. DUBAIsTT. 

BY GEN'L SILAS SEYMOUR 

[ 

ifSr history of the world shows us, that whenever a period 

ri^l has arrived in the destinies of nations or of governments 
which seemed to require the presen ce of some great mind 
to mould and guide their aflairs, there has always come forth some 
man of'comman ding genius and powers of organization, whose special 
mission appeared to be to comprehend and control the situation ; 
the hour has always produced the man. 

In military and political history this fact often appears. And it 
is none the less true in regard to the great victories of peace, "no 
less renowned than war." These have often been won by com- 
bined intellect, capital, and energy, over the forces of nature, in 
the development of the physical and commercial resources of the 
world. Whenever it has become apparent that any great work 
was necessary for the public good, there has always appeared, just 
at the proper time, some man equal to the emergency, who seemed 
especially created to perform this work. 

We need not go far back to lind instances of this ; the name of 
De Witt Clinton, in connection with the grand Erie Canal, and 
that of Ferdinand Lesseps, in connection with the Suez Canal, are 
abundantly sufficient to establish the fact. A most striking illus- 
tration is also afforded in our own day, and in our country, by the 
connection of Thomas C. Durant with the Union Pacific Eailroad. 

For more than a quarter of a century the public mind had been 
more or less agitated by the scheme of a great national highway 
across the American continent. The writers for the press, looking 
far into the future, drew wonderful imaginary sketches of a grand 
Appian Way from ocean to ocean. And in the Congress of the 

245 



2 THOMAS C. DURANT. 

United States, meu like Thomas II. Benton indulged in "glittering 
generalities " with regard to it, and had vast sums of money appro- 
priated for explorations and snrveys. Several enterprising, 
large-minded men were especially prominent in the matter at 
different times. The great political parties of the country alt;o 
embodied it as a saving plank in their respective platforms; until, 
by these means, the people generally had come to have an indistinct 
faith that at some future time the work would be accomplished. 

But there was nothing tangible or practical in the ideas ad- 
vanced and the speculations thus far indulged in. The whole thing 
was chimerical, and its realization seemed to be afar off. The 
engineers in charge of tlie large exploring and surveying expedi- 
tions sent out by the Government made voluminous reports, which 
consisted mainly of pictures of their camps, and illustrated disser- 
tations on the character and habits of the natives, animals, birds, 
minerals, and vegetables indigenous to the regions they had trav- 
ersed. These reports were most ably discussed in Congress, and 
commented upon by the press ; and then more money would be 
appropriated to print and illustrate these reports, and more parties 
would be sent out to collect information, and then the whole sub- 
ject would rest for a time. The Ao^^r had evidently not yet arrived 
which was to produce the inan. 

The almost constant agitation of the subject, however, was not 
without its benehcial results. The people of the country in time 
became convinced, or rather educated into a belief in the import- 
ance, the necessity almost, of the road ; and now that this con- 
dition of the public mind had been readied, now that the Jiour had 
arrived, there appeared the rnayi / one who, throwing aside as worth- 
less all the mass of surveys, plans, and reports which had been 
previously made, proceeded to work in his own way, and with his 
own means, to acquire the information necessary to convince him 
of the feasibility of the scheme. And when so convinced, he 
promptly organized the company, and constructed a work that will 
carry his name and fame down through all the future, as the pro- 

246 



THOMAS C. DURANT. 3 

jector and builder of tlie greatest conception of the age, the Union 
Pacific Raih'oad, a work which was destined to revolutionize the 
commerce of the world. 

Thomas C. Durant, late Vice-President and General Manager of 
the Union Pacilic Railroad, was born in Lee, Berkshire County, 
Massachusetts, in 1820. His father, Tliomas Durant, was a mer- 
chant and manufacturer ; and his grandfatlier, William Durant, 
was an officer in the Revolutionary War, and a member of the 
Boston Committee of Safety. 

What influence the vigorous air of that rugged region may have 
had in molding his racy and enterprising mental character, it is not 
for us to say ; but doubtless the Green Mountain climate exerted its 
powerful and animating tendencies in rapidly developing his intel- 
lect and in sharpening his inherently quick perce])tion. Selecting 
medicine and surgery as the field in which he miglit en^iloy his 
natural and acquired talents advantageously, he entered the Albany 
Medical College, and was graduated therefrom with full honors at 
twenty, receiving his diploma a year earlier than it is customary 
for medical schools to grant such license. Dr. Durant did not find 
in the practice of his profession scope enough ; his mind yearned for 
larger fields, more extensive interests, and more comprehensive con- 
siderations; and, having an opportunity to engage in mercantile life, 
after but a brief experience of three years as a physician, he accept- 
ed it, and became a partner in the firm of Durant, Lathrop & Co., 
of Albany. The business of this house was vei*y extensive, having 
branches in Buff'alo, Chicago, and New York, with numerous 
agents at difierent points, besides owning and employing a large 
number of vessels for the transportation of merchandise. Their 
operations were chiefly in flour and grain, and their transactions 
were conducted on a scale unsurpassed by any other dealers in 
their line. Mr. Durant had special charge of the New York 
branch, and shipped very largely to all the principal European 
ports. 

The business was carried on with unexampled success until the 

247 



4 THOMAS C. DURANT. 

breaking out of the FrencL Revolution in 1848. Previous to that 
time the foreign demand for cereal productions had been very great, 
and the shipments of Durant, Lathrop & Co. were enormous. The 
knowledge of the resources of the great West, obtained in the course 
of his mercantile career, made him an earnest advocate of internal 
improvements, and induced him to turn his attention to railway 
matters. He appreciated, with all the clearness and foresight of a 
De Witt Clinton, the importance of bringing tlie East and the 
West — the Atlantic and the Pacific — into a closer connection, 
strengthened by iron bands, and greatly imjDroved commercial rela- 
tions. He assisted very materially in promoting the interests of the 
Michigan Southern Railroad, and was the principal conti-actor in 
constructing the Bureau-Yalley, the Chicago and Rock Island, and 
the Mississippi and Missouri railroads. Exhibiting boldness, sa- 
gacity, and tact in manipulating stocks, he became one of the most 
successful operators of the stock exchange, and invested the greater 
part of his capital in railroad securities. Interesting himself from 
the first in the scheme of a great medium of transit from the At- 
lantic to the Pacific coast, at a time when the project appeared 
almost impracticable, Mr. Durant cherished and furthered it with 
all the enthusiasm of his energetic imture. 

Several years previous to the organization of the Union Pacific 
Railroad Company, under the charter passed by Congress in 1862, 
Mr. Durant, in connection with parties with whom he was engaged 
in constructing railroads in Illinois and Iowa, caused preliminary 
surveys to be made up the Platte Yalley ; and in 1863 (also prior to 
the organization of the company) he, at his own expense, sent sev- 
eral corps of engineers to examine the country and make surveys of 
the route, commencing at Omalia and other points on the Missouri 
River, and embracing the line through Cheyenne Pass and Bridger's 
Pass, into the basin of the great Salt Lake. And it is a striking 
fact that the route thus indicated by Mr. Durant, in his instructions 
to his engineers, varies but a few miles at any point from the line 
subsequently adopted by the Company. Mr. Dirant also at the same 

248 



THOMAS C. DURANT. 5 

time sent out a competent geologist for the purpose of ascertaining 
tlie mineral resources of the country. 

In 1863 he was active in procuring the subscription of two mil- 
lion dollars of stock, which was required by the act of Congress 
before the Company could be fully organized ; when, finding it difii- 
cult to induce capitalists to embark in tlie enterprise, he either sub- 
scribed himself, or caused to be subscribed for his account, three 
fourths of tlie entire amount, and paid the first instalment of ten 
per cent, thereon. 

Having, from the surveys and examinations previously made, ob- 
tained a knowledge of the obstacles to be surmounted in construct- 
ing the railroad, he devoted the winter of 1863 and ISO-i to obtain- 
ing important amendments to the charter, which doubled the land- 
grant, and made the Company's mortgage-bonds a first lien upon 
the road ; and during the year 1864 ])erfected the financial organi- 
zation under which the work was carried on to completion. 

Tliese amendments to the original charter, and the organization 
required to secure the completion of the road, were attended with 
difliculties, and involved interests of far greater importance and 
of afar more extended nature tlian was really apparent at the time, 
or even at a later day, to any but the most close and interested 
observer. They involved the construction of a first-class railroad 
and telegraph line over the different ranges of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, and entirely through the undeveloped and almost uninliabited 
Territories of the United States, extending from the Missouri 
Kiver to the eastern boundaries of the State of California, The 
nation was in the midst of a devastating civil war which rendered 
labor unusually scarce, and the price of material and supplies 
exceedingly high. The value of gold was almost doubled, while 
the best of securities were much below par. 

The route of the road was entirely disconnected from any great 
thoroughfare or means of transportation, except the uncertain navi- 
gation of the Missouri Kiver at its eastern base during a portion of 
tiie year ; and nothing of the kind was approaching it from any 

249 



Q THOMAS C. DURAXT. 

direction. It stood, therefore, entirely isolated and alone, so far as 
any outside influences could be broiiglit to bear, either in com 
uiencing or carrying forward the great work. 

Upon the construction of this main trunlc-line depended the con- 
struction not only of all its branch-lines and extensions which had_ 
also been subsidized by Congress, bat also of the different lines 
that were to connect with it from the eastward. None of these 
could be moved forward with safety until the construction of the 
Union Pacific Railroad was reduced to a certainty. 

It became, therefore, the great motive power, or locomotive, which 
was to haul in its train these diiferent branches and connections. 
If the machinery proved to be perfect, and the engine remained 
upon the track, the entire train was sure to go through triumjjh- 
antly to its destination, otherwise both locomotive and cars 
would be wrecked along the way. 

The responsibility therefore which devolved upon Mr. Durant at 
this time was very great, and he undoubtedly appreciated it in all 
its force. The eyes of the nation were fixed upon him. And all 
the various interests represented by diverging, converging, or con- 
necting lines were watching with the closest scrutiny for the de- 
velopment of his plans, in order to judge of the expediency of 
proceeding with their own. The slightest mistake in these prelimi- 
nary arrangements would undoubtedly have proved fatal to the 
enterprise. But, most fortunately, no such mistake occu'rred ; and 
the Avisdom and foresight of his plans and combinations were more 
than justified by the result which followed. 

The work of construction was commenced in the spring of 18G5, 
and prosecuted without interruption until its completion in the 
spring of 18G9. About six hundred miles were constructed durhig 
the last year, at an elevation of from six thousand to eight thousand 
feet above the sea. 

The construction of eleven hundred miles of railroad in four years, 
through an uninhabited country, requiring all supplies and materials 
to be brought from the rear, certainly is a feat unsurpassed in the 

250 



THOAIAS C. DURANT. Y 

annals of railway construction. Nothing but the most indomita- 
ble energy, clear foresight, and consummate skill in the organiza- 
tion of capital and labor, all of which are possessed in a remarkable 
degree by Mr. Durant, could have accomplished sucli a result. 

Immediately after laying the last rail upon the Union Pacific 
Kailroad, Mr. Durant retired from its active manasrement. Amomr 
the enterprises that have since engaged his attention, the most im- 
portant, probably, is that of developing and opening up, by the con- 
struction of a railroad directly through its center, the vast territory, 
covered with dense forests of the most valuable timber, and rich in 
extensive deposits of iron ores, situated in the northern part of 
the State of New York, and known as the Adirondack Eegion. 

A western correspondent of one of the leading papers of New 
York gives the following graphic sketch of Mr. Durant, as he 
appeared at one of the CUiicago hotels, at about the time of the 
completion of the Union Pacific Pailroad. 



Meanwhile, one of the most marl;ed, original cliaracters of all this throng is one of 
the quietest and least noticeable. There he sits, chatting carelessly in low tones, a 
rather tall man, in middle lil'e, his hair and whiskers beginning to sliow strealis of gray, 
and his worn, mild, thoughtful face shaded by tlie limp brim of a low-crowned brown 
hat. It is Thomas C. Durant, manager and builder of the Union Paciflo Railroad. Mr. 
Durant had energetic, persevering associates, but he has been the motive-power — has 
borne the brunt of everything. 

He was born among the Berkshire hills of Massachusetts. He studied medicine and 
graduated at Albany, and tried to content himself as a practicing physician; but with 
no other vent than feeling pulses and writing prescriptions, his inborn, restless energy 
would have left him ho peace. He became the head of a !ieavy firm for transporting 
freight from New York to the West. It often carried supplies for new railway com- 
panies, taking their securities in payment. Negotiating these bonds familiarized him 
with the stock market. Then he got to building roads himself, taking enormous con- 
tracts, pushing forward the work and selling the bonds, and becoming widely known 
as a contractor and operator. 

In the early doubtful years of the war, he went into tlie Union Pacific Company. 
His first step was to s^iend several months in inducing Congress to change tlie law, 
and make the Government lien only a second mortgage upon the road, that the Com- 
pany might issue its own bonds as a first mortgage. Jvven after this was done, his 
Eastern associates lacked faith in the enterprise. But his whole soul was thrown into 
it; and he furnished from his private means a large portion of the first resources. 
He believed in the nation, in the West, in a Pacific Railway. "The fact was," he ex- 
plains when asked about it, "I had built roads before 0V3r the prairies in advance of 

251 



8 THOMAS C. DURANT. 

Bcttlements, and I know how they bring population and malie business from the verj 
outset." 

It was hard study. Even after tlie money was raised, labor could hardly be found. 
" The boys " were all in the war. But men were gathered up in Canada, in New Eng- 
land, in Pennsylvania, and sent forward fifteen hundred miles at the Company's 
expense. And the number kept increaHing till at one time eighteen thousand laborers 
were employed. 

Things were conducted upon a grand scale. Enormous excursions were sent out 
from the East, over the line, in palace cars, with a sumptuous regardlessness of expense. 
The offices of the Company were among the most elegant in New York. Brussels 
carpets, and black-walnut and marble counters in the rooms of the managers, rare 
statuary and choice paintings, surprised the eyes of visitors. Dr. Durant's horses were 
the envy of Central Park, and his yacht was the admiration of the New York Y'acht 
Club. 

Meanwhile he was working like a galley-slave. Sometimes he was hardly in bed 
for a week ; again, he would spend urghts and Sundays upon his yacht for the quiet 
and cool air. He plunged into the controversies in the Company with characteristic 
energy; and I fancy there were times when he could not have told whether the next 
turn of the wheel would leave him worth a few millions, or a iew millions worse than 
nothing. But the great work never flagged. The expenses were enormous. Laborers 
were paid as high as three dollars per day and board. As the road pushed on, every- 
tiiing, workmen, food, iron, timber, fuel, had to go forward upon the single track. It 
was like building a road from Chicago to New Orleans, and carrying all the supplies, 
even coal and bridge-timber, from Boston. The telegraph bills alone amounted to a 
small fortune. Sometimes, in an emergency, ties, wliich had been transported eight 
hundred miles, were burned for fuel. 

At last, after his every nerve has been strained for four years, he is foot-loose once 
more. As he gets up for a stroll, we see the chief mark that his terrible labor has left 
on him ; his frame is bowed, and he looks like a modern Atlas, a little surprised that 
his heavy burden has rolled off. He h;is done the work ; let him have the credit of it. 
He is said to own one-fourth of the enti're road. Now he will devote himself to his 
private afl'airs, which have taken care of themselves during these busy years. Per- 
haps, for this summer's recreation, he will build the plaything of a railway to the 
Adirondacks, in which he has a controlling interest, and where he owns half a million 
acres of land more or less. 

Where will his indomitable energy next find vent? His mainspring seems to be not 
love of money for itself, or of notorietj' in any sense, but a love for large operations — a 
resistless desire to be "swinging" great enterprises, and doing everything on a magni- 
ficent scale. And yet, this man, who has chosen such a stormy career, and who, while 
yet under fifty, has carried forward such a stupendous and historic work to completion, 
half considers his life a failure, because it has not been devoted to natural science, the 
subject of all others which fascinates him, and in which he always finds rest and 
recreation. 

252 



THOMAS ALEXAITDER SCOTT. 




'HOMAS ALEXANDEK SCOTT was born in Franklin 
County, Pennsylvania, on the 28tli of December, 1825. 
He received during boyhood the ordinary educational ad- 
vantages of the country district schools. In 1844 he entered the col- 
lector's office at Columbia, Pennsylvania, as a clerk under the Board 
of Canal Commissioners, and continued in that capacity until 1847. 
He was then transferred to the collector's office at Philadelphia, where 
he remained three years. In 1850 he became connected with the 
Pennsylvania Railroad, and was on duty first at Hollidaysburgh, then 
an important transhipping point between the railroad and canal, 
and afterward in charge of portions of the western division during 
its construction. In the latter position his untiring energy and readi- 
ness in meeting the difficulties contingent upon a mixed system of 
boat, car, and stage transportation, were of great value ; and on the 
completion of the division, in 1852, he was made superintendent, 
and managed its rapidly increasing business for the ensuing six 
years. 

In 1858 he was appointed general superintendent of the road, 
and in 1860, on the death of the Hon. William B. Foster, was called 
to the vice-presidency, which position he still retains ; although 
the manifold duties consequent upon the wonderful growth of busi- 
ness now require the service of three associates. Mr. Scott, as the 
first vice-president, is especially charged with the relations between 
connecting lines and the roads owned or controlled by the Com- 
pany ; and upon him are thus devolved the harmonious manage- 
ment of over four thousand miles of road, the property of many dif- 

253 



2 THOMAS ALEXANDER SCOTT. 

ferent corporations, and the settlement of the complicated questions 
that are always arising in connection therewith. 

In the fall of 1861 President Lincoln called on Mr. Scott to fill 
the position of Assistant Secretary of War. The exigencies of the 
war had already imposed new and grave responsibilities on the 
officers of trunk lines, but he was prevailed upon to assume the 
herculean task of supervising the transportation of our vast armies, 
and in addition thereto aided generally in discharging the duties so 
uddenly and unexpectedly thrust upon the department. 

His singular clearness of perception, promptness in action, rare 
administrative abilities, together with his knowledge of and faith in 
the resources of tlie country, made him an invaluable officer to the 
government. He served in that capacity until the fall of 1862, 
when, he resumed his railroad duties, having worthily earned the 
gratitude of the administration and of the country. Since then, his 
time has been absorbed by the labors of his profession, in which he 
is conceded to hold the front rank ; and he has shown rare ability 
in the solution of the problems evolved in the rapid development 
of railway transportation, and in anticipating and providing for its 
future wants. 

The Pennsylvania E-ailroad stands conspicuous among the great 
corporations of the world for its prudent and successful manage- 
ment. For nearly twenty years it has had J. Edgar Thompson at 
the head of its administration ; and from a feeble corporation, 
struggling to cross the Alleglianies to the Ohio, it has grown with 
a steady growth until it drains every portion of the great West by 
lines under its immediate control. It is without a rival in point of 
time, in uniting the Western emporiums of trade with the commercial 
cities of the Atlantic coast, and has its connections also perfected 
with those of the Gulf. It has an eye single to completing the 
main avenues of trade, and insuring to the interests dependent 
upon them the highest measure of substantial prosperity. 

Mr. Scott is eminently a self-made man. Without the aid of 
fortuitous circumstances, he has steadily risen from a clerkship on 

254 



THOMAS ALEXANDER SCOTT. 3 

tlie I'eiirifeylvania Canal to be one of the most experienced and 
skillful railroad men of the country, and he is scarcely less distiji- 
guished for his many estimable personal qualities. Few men of 
the present day have so creditable a record for wide-spread 
usefulness aud well-earned distinction in the march of progress. 

255 



GEORGE H. BOKER 

BY BAYARD TAYLOR. 

'^IjW^R. BOKER is one of the youngest of American authors. 
He is a native of Philadelphia, and was born, we believe, 
in the year 1824. After the usual preparatory studies in 
the city of his birth, he entered the college at Princeton, New Jer- 
sey, of which he is a graduate. In addition to the collegiate course, 
however, he devoted much time to the study of Anglo-Saxon, and 
to the perusal of the early masters of English literature, whose in- 
fluence is discernible in all his earlier poems. Soon after leaving 
college he made a visit to France and Eno-land, but was obli2:ed to 
return, after ha;»^ing been but a short time abroad, owing to the 
critical state of his health. He was at that time suifering under a 
pulmonary disease which threatened to be fatal, but all symptoms 
of which, fortunately, have since disappeared. On his return he 
took up his residence in Philadelphia, which continues to be his 
home. 

Mr. Boker first appeared as an author at the commencement of 
the year 1848, when a volume of his poems, under the title of " The 
Lesson of Life," was published in Philadelphia. The publication 
of a volume was no light ordeal to a young poet whose name was 
unknown, and who, we believe, had never before seen himself in 
print. The lack of self-observation and self-criticism, which can 
only be acquired when the author's thoughts have taken the matter- 
of-fact garb cf type, -would of itself be sufficient to obscure much 
real promise. In spite of these disadvantages, the book contained 
much that gave the reader the impression of a mind of genuine and 
original power. We remember being puzzled at its seeming incon- 
gruitj'. the bold, mature, and masculine character of its thought 
1' 257 



2 GEORGE II. BOKER. 

being so strikingly at variance with its frequent crudities of expre g- 
sion. It seemed to ns the work of a man in the prime of life, whos?e 
poetic feeling had taken a sudden growth, and moved some^Yl!at 
unskillfullj in the unaccustomed trammels of words, rather than the 
iirst essay of a brain glowing with the fresh inspiration of youth. 

No one saw the autlior's imperfections sooner than himself; and, 
before the year had closed, his tragedy of " Calaynos " was published 
— a work so far in advance of what he liad hitherto accomplislied, 
eo full, not only of promise for the future, but of actual performance, 
that it took his most conildent friends by surprise. To write a live- 
act tragedy is also a bold undertaking; but there is an old French 
proverb which says, "if you would shoot lions, don't begin by aim- 
ing at hares," and we believe there are fewer failures from attempting 
too much than with being content with too little. The success of 
" Calaynos " showed that the author had not aimed beyond his 
reach. The book attracted considerable attention, and its merits as 
a vigorous and original play were very genenally recognized. 
Although written with no view to its representation on the stage, it 
did not escape the notice of actors and managers, and a copy hap- 
pening to fall into the hands of Mr. Phelps, a distinguished English 
tragedian, it was first j)erformed under his direction at the Theater 
Royal, Sadler's Wells, Mr. Phelps himself taking the part of 
Calaynos. Its success as an acting play was most decided, and after 
keeping the stage at Sadler's Wells twenty or thirty nights, it 
went the round of the provinces. It has already been performed 
more than a hundred times in different parts of Great Britain. 

" Calaynos " gives evidence of true dramatic genius. The charac- 
ters are distinct and clearly drawn, and their individualities care- 
fully preserved through all the movements of the plot, which is 
natural and naturally developed. The passion on which the action 
hinges is the prejudice of blood between the Spanish and Moorisli 
families of Spain. The interest of the plot, wliile it never loses sight 
of the hero, is shared in the first three acts by the other personages of 
the story, but concentrates at the close on Calaynos^ whose outbursts 

258 



GEORGE H. BOKER. 3 

of love and grief and revenge are drawn with striking power and 
eloquence. The phiy is enlivened with many humorons pas- 
sages, wherein the author shows his mastery of this element, so 
necessary to the complete dramatist. 

Mr. Boker's next publication was the tragedy of "Anne Boleyn," 
which appeared in February, 1850. In this work he touched on 
more familiar ground, and in some instances, in his treatment of 
historical characters, came in conflict with the opinions or preju- 
dices of the critics. The necessity of adhering to history in the 
arrangement of the plot and selection of the dramatis perso?iai im- 
pQ,sed some restraint on the author's mind, and hence, while '* Anne 
Boleyn " exhibits a calmer and more secm*e strength, and a riper 
artistic knowledge than '* Cahiynos,'' it lacks the fire and passionate 
fervor of some' passages of the latter. We should not forget, how- 
ever, that the Thames has a colder and sadder sun than the Gua- 
dalquivir. Objections have been made to Mr. Boker's King llenry^ 
especially to his complaint of the torments of his conscience, and 
his moralizins; over Norr'nss inji-ratitude. But those who cavil at 
these points seem to forget that, however vile and heartless King 
Jlenry appears to them, he is a very diflerent man to himself. The 
authors idea — and it is true to human nature — evidently is, that a 
criminal is not always guilty to his own mind. This marked insen- 
sibility of King llenrij to his own false and corrupt nature is a 
subtle stroke of art. 

The language of the tragedy is strong, terse, and full of point, 
approaching the sturdy Saxon idiom of tlie early English dramatists. 
We might quote many passages in support of our opinion, as, for 
instance, the scene between the Queen and her brother, Lord Roch- 
ford; between the Queen and King Henry j Wyatt and Uochfordy 
and King Henry and Jane Seymour. Two or three brief extracts 
we can not avoid giving. Wyatt and Rochford are in " The Safety," 
the thieves' quarter of London — the St. Giles of that day. Wyatt 
speaks :— 

259 



4: GEORGE H. BOKER. 

" I oft have thought the watchful eje of God 
Upon this place ne'er rested ; or that hell 
Had raised so black a smoke of densest sin, 
That the All-Beautiful, iippalled, shrunk back 
From its fierce ugliness. I tell you, friend, 
When the great treason, wliicli shall surely come 
To burst in sliards law-bound society. 
Gives the first shudder, ere it grinds to dust 
Thrones, ranks, and fortunes, and most cunning laws— 
When the great temple of our social stale 
Staggers and throbs, and totters back to chaos- 
Let men look here, here in this fiery mass 
Of aged crime and primal ignorance, 
For the hot heart of all the mj'stery — 
Here, on this howiing sea, let fall the scourge, 
Or pour the oil of mercy I 

liochford. Pour tlie oil — 

In God's name, pour tlie blessed oil! The scourge, 
Bloody and fierce, has fallen for ages past 
Upon the forward crest within its reach; 
Yet made no more impression on the mass 
Than Persia's whips upon the Hellespont 1" 

Wyatfs soliloquy on beholding Queen Anne led forth to execu- 
tion is full of rare and subtle beaut}^, both of thought and expression : 

" Anne. Anne I 
The world may banish all regard for thee, 
Mewing thy fame in frigid chronicles. 
But every memory that haunts my mind 
Shall cluster round thee still. TU hide, thy name 
Tinder the, coverture of even lines, 
Til hint it darldy in familiar songs, 
ril mix each melancholy thought of thee 
Through all my numbers, so that heedless men 
Shall hold my love for thee within their hearts, 
Not knowing of tJte treasure." 

The last scene, preceding the death of Anne Boleijn^ is simple 
and almost homely in its entire want of poetic imagery; yet nothing 
could be more profoundly touching and — in the highest sense of 
the word — tragic. The same tears wliich blur for us the lines of 
Browning's " Blot on the 'Scutcheon," and the last words of Shel- 
ley's " Beatrice Cenci," suffuse our eyes at tliis parting address of 
Anne Boleyn to her maidens beside her on the scaffold : — 

200 



GEORGE H. BOKER. . 5 

"And ye, my damsels, 
Who whilst I lived did ever show yourselves 
So diligent in service, and are now 
To be here present in my latest liour 
Of mortal agony — as in good limes 
Ye weie most truHttvortli}-, even so in this. 
My miserable death, ye leave me not. 
As a poor recompense for your rich love, 
I pray you to take comfort for my loss — 
And yet forget me not. To the king's grace, 
And to the happier one whom you may serve 
In place of me, be faithful as to me. 
Learn from this scene, the triumph of my fate, 
To hold your honors far above j'our lives. 
When you are praying to the martyred Christ, 
Remember me wlio, as my weakness could, 
Faltered afar behind Eis shining steps, 
And died for trutii, forgiving all mankind. 
Tiie Lord have pity on my helpless soull" 

After the publication of " Anne Boleyn," Mr. Bokei wrote two 
plays,— "The Betrothal," and "All the World a Mask,"— both of 
which have been produced on the stage in Philadelphia with the 
most entire success. " Calaynos " was also played a number of 
nights, Mr. Murdoch taking the principal part. " The Betrothal " 
was performed in New York and Baltimore with equal success. 
It is adm.irably adapted for an acting play. The plot is not tragic, 
though the closing scenes have a tragic air. The dialogue is more 
varied than in " Anne Boleyn " or " Calaynos " — now sparkling and 
full of point ; novr pithy, shrewd, and pregnant with worldly wisdom ; 
and. now tender, graceful, and poetic. "All the World a Mask" 
is a comedy of modern life. We have not seen it represented, and 
it has not yet been published ; yet no one familiar with the fine 
healthy humor displayed in portions of "Calaynos" and "The Be- 
trothal " can douljt the author's ability to sustain himself through 
a Hve-act comedy. 

In addition to these plays, Mr. Boker has published from time 
to time, in the literaj-y magazines, lyrics and ballads that would of 
themselves entitle him to rank among our most worthy poets. It is 
rare that a dramatic author possesses lyric genius and vice versa, 

261 



Q GEORGE H. BOKER. 

yet tlie true lyric inspiration is no less perceptible in Mr. Boker's 
"Song of the Earth" and " Yision of the Goblet," than the true 
dramatic faculty in his " Anne Boleyn." 

There is a fresh, manly strength in his poetry which may some- 
times jar the melody a little, but never allows his verse to flag. 
The life which informs it was inhaled in the open air; it is sincere 
and earnest, and touched with that fine enthusiasm which is the 
heart's-blood of lyric poetry. Take, for instance, this glorious Bac- 
chic from the " Yision of the Goblet ": — 

"Joy ! joy I with Bacchus and his satyr train, 
In triumph throbs our merry Grecian earth ; 
Joy ! joy ! the golden time lias come again, 
A god shall bless the vine's illustrious birth I 
lo, io, Bacche 1 

"0 breezes, speed across the mellow lands. 

And breathe his coming to the joyous vine ; 
Let all the vineyards wave their leafy hands 
Upon the hills to greet this pomp divine ! 
Io, io, Bacche I 

*' peaceful triumph, victory witliout tear. 
Or human cry, or drop of conquered blood, 
Save dew-beads bright that on the vine appear, 
The choral shouts, the trampled grape's red flood I 
Io, io, Bacche 1 

"Shout, Hellas, shout 1 the lord of joy is come, 
Bearing the mortal Lethe in his hands, 
To make the wailing lips of sorrow dumb. 
To bind sad Memory's eyes with rosy bands i 
Io, io, Bacche I" 

In the " Song of the Earth," which shows a higher exercise of 
the poetic faculty than any thing else Mr. Boker has written, he 
has enriched the language with a new form of versification. Except 
in this poem, we do not remember ever to have seen dacti/Jic blank 
verse attempted in the English language. The majestic and reso- 
nant harmonies of the measure are strikingly adapted to the poet's 
theme. The concluding '' Chorus of Stars," rebuking the Earth for 

262 



GEORGE II. BOKEPw. 7 

Ler pride as the dwelling-place of the human soul, is a splendid 
eifort of the imagination. We know not where to find surpassed 
the sounding sweep of the rhythm in the final lines: — 

" Heir of eternity, Motlier of Souls, 
Let not thy knowledge betray thee to folly ! 
Knowledge is proud, self-suflficient, and lone, 
Trusting, unguidcd, its steps in the darkness. 
Thine is the wisdom that mankind may win. 
Gleaned in the pathway between joy and sorrow; 
Ours is the wisdom that hallows the child 
Fresh from the touch of his awful creator, 
Dropped like a star on thy shadowy realm, 
Falling in splendor, but falling to darken. 
Ours is the simple religion of Faith, 
Trusting alone in the God who o'errules us; 
Thine are the complex misgivings of Doubt, 
Wrested to form by imperious Reason. 
Knowledge is restless, iirq^erfed, and sad ; 
Faith is serene, a!)id coinpleted, and joyful. 
Bow in humility, bow thy proud forehead, 
Circle thy form with a mantle of clouds, 
. Hide from the glitkrinr) coliorts of evening, 
Wheeling in purity, singing in chorus; 
Hoiol in the depllis of thy lone, barren mountaiiis, 
Itestlessly moan on the deserts of ocean, 
Wail o'er thy fall in the desolate forests. 
Lost star of Paradise, straying alone /" 

Mr. Boker's next volume, " The Podesta's Daughter, and Other 
Poems," was published toward the close of the year 1851. The 
leading poem, with another lyrical narrative, entitled " The Ivory 
Carver," attracted much attention, both in this country and England 
(where the latter was made the subject of a painting by a promi- 
nent artist), and added to the author's fame. Some of the poem.s 
liave been translated into German, and published in an " American 
Anthology." His fondness for the dramatic form, however, soon 
recalled him to the field wherein he had won his first success. He 
wrote the tragedies of " Leonor de Guzman" and "Francesca da 
E,imini," — the latter an extension of the celebrated episode in Dan- 
te's " Inferno," — and both were produced on the stage. " Francesca 
da Rimini " was acted for two or three weeks in Xew York, where 

203 



8 GEORGE H. BOKER. 

it won tLe hearty commendations of those whose taste had not 
been corrupted by the melodramatic, sensational school, which has 
since taken possession of almost all our theaters. 

In 1857 a collected edition of Mr. Boker's works Avas published 
by Ticknor & Fields, in Boston. It is in two handsome volumes, 
entitled " Plays and Poems," including not only the volumes pre- 
viously published, but also the dramatic poems which had not yet 
appeared in print. A second edition was published the same year, 
and the volumes have since been issued in a new form by Lippin- 
cott & Co., Philadelphia. Although they address themselves to 
the smaller and more cultivated audience, the impression which 
they made of the author's power and high literary aim has been all 
the more permanent. They constitute a basis of performance, upon 
which to build the reputation of his riper days. 

The commencement of the war changed the direction of the poet's 
activity. One of the most loyal of Americans, tilled with an inex- 
tinguishable faith in the justice and the vitality of our system of 
government, and in its final triumph over the forces which for a 
time seemed to threaten its existence, he devoted all his energies 
toward keeping alive, consolidating, aiid organizing the patriotic 
sentiment of the country. From time to time the blast of his Tyr- 
ta?an trumpet was heard in lyrics which went over the land, stirring 
aiul encouraging, like those of Korner in Germany, in 1813 ; and 
he was one of the very first to seize upon the plan of utilizing the 
power of the loyal people by the creation of Leagues, as a civil re- 
serve which should morally strengthen the soldiers in the "field. He 
was one of the founders, and, as secretai'y, the most active ofiieer of 
the Union League of Philadelphia, which sent ten regiments into 
the field, and accomplished a greater amount of important work 
than any other similar organization in the country. Even litera- 
ture — with the exception of those patriotic lyrics — was given up to 
this duty ; of all the loyal men whose work at home was not less 
important to the nation than the bravery and endurance of its de- 
fenders in arras, there was probabl}' uot one who gave more of his 

264 



GEORGE H. BOKER. 9 

time and talents to the cause, during the years of the war and 
reconstruction, than Mr. Boker. 

His " Poems ot'the War" were collected and published as a vol- 
ume in the year 1864. They were already popular with all classes, 
from the school-boy who declaimed them at his public examinations 
and the soldiers who read them by the camp-fire, to the mourners 
who took fresh pride in the lost from their lofty spirit of patriotism, 
or consolation from the tenderness with whicli they celebrated the 
daad. Several editions of the volume were published during the 
year ; and, as the most important contribution made by any author 
to the poetic literature of our great national struggle, its popularity 
must only increase, as the glamour of time gives tlieir true heroic 
proportions to the deeds the poet has sung. The following year, 
he delivered a poem, entitled " Our Heroic Themes," before the 
Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard University, — an occasion which 
was memorable on account of the commemoration of the graduates 
who fell in battle. The poem was enthusiastically received, and 
has since been delivered at the reunion of the officers of the Army 
of the Potomac, in Philadelphia, in the presence of President Grant, 
Generals Sheridan, Meade, Hooker, Burnside, and others. 

Mr. Bokers last volume is " Koniirsmarke, tlie Leirend of the 
Hounds, and other Poems," published in 1869. " Konigsmarke" is 
the tragic story of Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, given with a simple 
strength and adherence to the accepted historic details, which is 
almost a phenomenon in this generation of authors. In style and 
atmosphere, there could be no greater contrast than this play of 
Boker's and Mr. Sv.-inburne's " Chastelard." The bolder artist is he 
to whom truth is the first and most important element. The tragic 
portions of" Konigsmarke" are as sober in tone as the tragic truth 
of life; and the maturity of Mr. Boker's genius is manifested in the 
courage with which he disregards tlie conventional — and therefore 
temporary — craving for effect, which belongs to the taste of our 
day. An author of his intellectual constitution must expect to be 
both misunderstood and neglected ; he must accustom himself to sec 

265 



10 GEORGE H. BOKER. 

more uoisj and superficial claimants receive tlie favor of tlie public : 
he must patiently av^^ait the growth of a recognition which shall be 
enduring because it is not dependent on fashions in literature. 

We are constantly hearing of our " self-made men " (as if every 
genuine success were not self-achieved), and there is no part of the 
country which can not point to some of its citizens who have risen 
to distinction without other aids than their own faith, energy, and 
self-denial. Mr. Boker, hovvever, belongs to a class which is much 
rarer with us ; he is one of the very few who, having wealth, social 
position, and leisure, nevertheless conscientiously cultivate their 
best intellectual qualities and acquire honorable fame. He is not 
only a born poet, but, without the stimulus of necessity, he labors 
to perfect his art, not for the sake of immediate reputation and its 
collateral advantages, but for the Art's own sake. In this respect, 
his example will continue to be more and more fruitful of 
good, as the class of those who recognize it increases with time 

266 




E-ng '^ by Geo K Fjrme ^' 




hejstey clews. 




EXEY CLEWS,' ESQ., was born in Staffordshire, England, 
Ananist 14, 1834:, and is therefore in the thirtv-seventh 
year of his age. He pursued a course of instruction under 
Dr. Palin in Surrey, and under Dr. Stochs at Poplar, near Lon- 
don. In 184:9 his father, who was an extensive manufacturer for 
the American trade, came to the United States on a business visit, 
accompanied by his son Henry. It had been previously determined 
that young Clews should be educated for the Church, and on his 
return from America he was to enter the University of Cambridge 
for that purpose. The eminently practical business spirit of the 
American people, however, indicated a prospect which to him pos- 
sessed greater fascinations than the clerical profession, and with 
the sanction of his father he promptly determined upon seeking 
his fortune in the New World. In answer to an advertisement 
of Wilson. G. Hunt & Co., dealers in woolen goods, he obtained a 
situation as clerk in that house. This was in the spring of 1849. 
He remained with this tirm nine years, and by the industry, in- 
tegrity, and sterling business qualities which he exhihitcd, he laid 
the foundations of future financial success. His relations with hia 
associate clerks were of the most cordial character, and he pre- 
served a reputatio7i untainted by any of those follies or vices which 
have blighted the prospects of so many young men in large cities. 
His pleasing address, his fixed habits of prudence and sobriety, 
and liis careful observance of the proprieties of life, arising from 
a naturally refined taste, gave him access to cultivated society, the 
advantages of which he was admirably fitted to appreciate and 
improve ; while his clear perceptions, high moral principles, and 

267 



2 HENRY CLEWS. 

decision of character, seldom attained except in mature years, fitted 
him for the most important trusts. Mr. Hunt rightlj estimated 
his excellent qualities of mind and heart, and gave the liighest in- 
dorsement of his character, 

Mr, Clews possesses all the qnalifications which combine to 
make up the successful merchant, and, had he chosen to pursue this 
career, there is every reason to believe it would have been attended 
with tar more than ordinary success. But liis early ambition was 
to be a banker. His first step in that direction was taken at the 
age of twenty-five, when he entered Wall Street as a dealer in com- 
mercial paper, forming with others the copartnership of Stout, Clews 
& Mason. Having thus determined and entered upon this business, 
lie continued its prosecution with untiring energy and perseverance. 
He had already formed an extensive acquaintance with the city 
merchants, which he turned to good account. His acknowl- 
edged probity, financial skill, and fidelity to trusts produced its 
legitimate eflect in leaving a most favorable impression upon all 
who had occasion to transact Inisincss wnth him. Since that period 
this firm has undergone several changes, Mr. Clews meanwhile 
rapidly rising in public estimation. By the withdrawal and admis- 
Bion of partners, the styles of the firm have been as follows: Liver- 
more, Clews & Mason ; Livermore, Clews & Co., and subsequently 
it assumed its present form, Henry Clews & Co. 

When the RebeUion broke out Mr. Clews was on the high road to 
fortune, and, with a forecast and sagacity remarkable in one of his 
years, he saw the golden opportunity and did not permit it to pass 
unimproved. Convinced that the government must become a 
large borrower, he aimed to distinguish himself in the negotiation of 
its loans, and to make his business chiefiy that of dealing in govera- 
ment securities. Timid men were then wavering .and disheart- 
ened ; these securities were not popular, a general distrust pre- 
vailed, and almost universal gloom overspread society. Disaffected 
people stood entirely aloof, and even many loyal bankers were 
afraid to iii«est. Though not at that time a naturalized citizen, 

268 



HENRY CLSWS. 3 

Mr. Clews was one of the few bankers who. showed unlimited con- 
fidence in the success of the government and the perpetuity of the 
Union. At this critical moment, his iirni, with Messrs. Jay Cooke & 
Co., stood foremost in the negotiation of the immense loans of the 
Treasury. They had patriotism enough to convince them that 
tlie bonds of the government were good, and a degree of per- 
severance sufficient to infuse their own confidence into capitalists 
and the masses of the people. Notwithstanding the Treasury was 
absolutely empty, the public creditors clamoring fur pay, and con- 
servative bankers hesitating to employ their means in securities 
deemed risky and unpromising, the enthusiastic confidence of these 
firms, just rising into business life, surmounted all obstacles, and 
were at first the chief means of supplying the sinews of war. The 
country was flooded with circulars ; the papers were filled with 
advertisements ; and in addition to the ordinary methods of pre- 
senting the subject before the country, the bankers to whom refer- 
ence is made added the weight of their personal solicitations. By 
this means many capitalists w^ere induced to make investments in 
these securities, contrary to their own judgment. Subsequently, 
in conversation on the subject, Mr. Clews remarked, " I used to talk 
to men by the hour who doubted my predictions, and to some who 
sneered at my enthusiasm ; but I felt tiiat the government w^as 
right in the w^ar, that the rebellion ought to be and would be 
subdued, and that the government's securities were good." The 
perilous situation to wduch the country was brought, and the strenu- 
ous and praiseworthy efi'orts by which the government credit was 
restored to a stable foundation, is not, perhaps, sufficiently under- 
stood. A gentleman, one day in conversation with Mr. Chase (then 
Secretary of the Treasury), congratulated him on the success of the 
" 5-20" loan. He replied, " I deserve no credit ; had it not been for 
the exertions of Jay Cooke, of Philadelphia, and Messrs. Livermore, 
Clews & Co., of I^ew York, the loan would not have been taken." 
This was undoubtedly correct, and reflects the highest credit upon 
their sagacity and patriotism. The success of the Clews' firm in the 

269 



4 HENRY CLEWa. 

jiegotiution of the public loans at once gave confidence and char- 
acter to the house, Avliile it largely increased its capital. But Mr. 
Clews did not rest satisfied with his financial labors at this [)eriod, 
arduous as they were. In the public meetings of the day, and 
in measures designed for the support of the government, Mr. 
Clews and his firm bore a distinguished part. In the year 1864 
the firm was subscribing to the national loan at the rate of five 
millions, and doing a business in government and other securities 
""O the amount of fifteen millions, a day. After the close of the war, 
Mr. Clews directed his attention to the foundation of a distinctively 
banking business, though, still retaining a valnable commission busi- 
ness in government bonds, stocks, and gold. With this view the 
terms of the copartnership were constructed in 1868, so. as to pro- 
hibit stock speculations on account of the firm, or of any of its 
members ; and the generally conservative character of the business 
of the house since, continues it in the highest rank of credit. 

One of the earliest symptoms of the recovery of the country 
from the effects of the war was an extensive revival of railroad en- 
terprises. The abundance of government revenues, though de- 
rived from onerous taxation, by enabling the government to 
redeem its 'public obligations to a considerable extent, has been 
causing the withdrawal of a large amount of securities, and creating 
an opening for investment in tliese enterprises. The extension 
of railroad facilities in the West and South has become a pressing- 
necessity, and consequently large amounts of new investments of 
this character are brought into the market. These enterprises 
have varying degrees of merit, and as it is difficult foi- most in- 
vestors to form an opinion of the value or soundness of any 
particular loan, they must necessarily rely, to a great extent, upon 
the honesty and reputation of the firms negotiating the securities. 

Mr. Clews was prompt to avail himself of the flow of capital in 
this new direction, and in 1867, 1868, 1869, and 1870 was the 
most extensive negotiator of railroad loans in the United States 
and Europe, at the same time negotiating important loans on ac- 

270 



HENRY CLEWS. 5 

count t)f some of tlic States. In the fall of 1S70, the firms of Henry 
Clews & Co., and Clews, Ilabiclit tfe Co., London, were the bank- 
ers and linaiicial a<^cn[s for the States of Alabama and Georgia ; 
the city of Brunswick, (xeurgia; Burlington, Cedar Rapids, and 
Minnesota liuilioad Co. ; Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad Co. ; 
Brunswick and Albany Railway Co., of Georgia ; Selma, Marion, 
and Meuipliis Railroad Co. ; Salem and Gulf Railroad Co. ; Eu- 
faula, Opelika, Oxford, and Guntersville Railroad Co. ; East Ala- 
bama and Cincinmiti Railroad Co. ; Blue Ridge Raijroad Co., of 
South Carolina ; Wilmington, Cliarlotte, and Rutherford Railroad 
Co. ; Western North Carolina (Eastern Division) ; Cariersville and 
Van Wert Railroad Co., of Georgia; Tbe Burlington and South- 
western Railroad Co., of Iowa ; Baltimore, Ohio, and Michigan 
Railroad Co. ; The National Life Insurance Com])any, of New 
York. 

The established reputation of the firm for sound judgment and 
strict integrity are a guaranty' of tlie validity and value of tlie 
securities which they ofi'er, and a pledge that all trusts will be 
executed with fidelity. These specialties do not in any manner 
interfere with the transaction of the ordinary banking business of 
the house, which is wider and more varied than that of any other 
house in the United States. Ihe constant increase in the number 
of its dealers testifies to the satisfaction, accuracy, and courtesy 
with which its business is conducted. 

Messrs. Henry Clews & Co. occupy the building adjoining the 
United States hub-Treasury, and have one of the largest and 
most commodious offices in Wall Street. The banking busi- 
ness of the house is organized u[)on the most extensive scale, and 
every department is conducted on the soundest and most approved 
financial principles. In addition to the successful management of 
the trusts of some of the largest and heaviest corporations, its busi- 
ness with individuals is enormous. Some idea of the nature, 
variety, and extent of its transactions, and the advantages offered 
to dealers and depositors, may be inferred from tlie following brief 

271 



6 HENRY CLEWS. 

siunmary : Interest is allowed on all daily balances in currency or 
gold. Persons depositing with this house can check at sight through 
the Clearing-House in the same manner as with any of the city 
banks. Certificates of deposit are issued, payable on demand 
or at fixed date, bearing interest at current rates, and avail- 
.able at all moneyed centers. Advances are made to dealers at all 
times, on approved collaterals, at market rates of interest. All 
issues of government bonds are bought, sold, and exchanged, at 
current market prices ; also coin and coupons. Orders are exe- 
cuted for the purchase and sale of gold and all first-class securities 
on commission. Gold banking accounts may be opened with the 
house upon the same conditions as currency accounts. Kailroad, 
State, city, and other corporation loans are negotiated. Collections 
of notes, drafts, dividends, and coupons are made everywhere in 
the United States, Canada, and Europe. Sight or time bills of 
exchange are drawn, telegraphic transfers of money are made, and 
letters of ci'edit are issued available in all parts -of Europe through 
the London House recently established under the firm name of 
Clews, Ilabicht & Co. The facilities of this house for receiving 
frequent and rapid telegraphic news from London and all the great 
commercial cities of the Old World in referen(;e to quotations of 
bonds, stocks, etc., exhibit enterprise of the highest order. The 
business done by this banking house amounts to millions of dollars 
daily. 

In business and monetary circles the advice and opinions of Mr. 
Clews upon all questions relating to finance and the currency are 
esteemed of the highest value. He clearly foresaw the gold specu- 
lation of September, 1869, and the consequent derangement result- 
ing therefrom, and in a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury fore- 
warned him of the same, and suggested the proper course to be 
pursued. When it came, and all Wall Street was in a tremor of 
excitement, Mr. Clews was calm and collected as usual, and the 
business of his house was transacted with order and regularity. He 
had a clear insight into the nature and extent of the panic, and re- 

27-2 



HENET CLEWS. 7 

marked tliat it was not tlie result of a generally unsound condition 
of affairs, but of circumstances strictl_y confined to the stock and 
gold markets. The communications from his pen, addressed to 
Secretaries McCulloch and Boutwell, are distinguished for great 
vigor and grasp of thought, and events have afibrded a remarkable 
verification of the accuracy of his predictions and the soundness of 
his reasonings. Two vears aijo he suo-gested that the best way to 
settle the vexed question of consolidating the public debt was to 
authorize the conversion of all outstanding interest-bearing obliga- 
tions into an interminable four and a-half or five per cent, stock, 
corresponding to the consols of the British government, the interest 
to be made payable in the coin of the United States. 

In the IS 70 canvass for the New York City election, Mr, Henry 
Clews was tendered, by the Republican Convention, the nomination 
for Mayor, but owing to the pressure of business and other duties, he 
was compelled to decline. lie never mingled actively in politics, 
but was a firm, constant, and valued supporter of the government 
during the war. Though averse to appearing in public, he takes 
an enlarged and national view of public affairs, and has always 
been an active worker on committees, and liberal in his donations 
to meritorious objects. 

At the dinner to Sefior Romero, the Mexican minister, 20th ot 
March, 18G4, at Delmonico's, he expressed the belief, " that public 
opinion in this country will not submit to the encroachment of 
foreign powers upon any portion of this continent ; and that 
European nations will best promote the welfare of their own })eo- 
ple by carefully abstaining from all interference with the de- 
clared will of those who dwell here." Mr. Clews was a liberal 
contributor to the Rawlins fund and also to the fund for the re- 
lief of the family of the late Secretary Stanton. He is a vice- 
president of the Peabody monument fund, and one of the execu- 
tive committee of the Union League Club. He is treasurer of the 
American Geographical and Statistical Society ; also treasurer of 
the famous annual "Charity Ball." 
18 273 



^ hp:nry clews. 

Mr. Clews is unmarried, and very simple in Lis habits and style 
of living. lie possesses those personal traits and that genial dispo- 
sition which always render him a popular and welcome guest in 
the best circles, and his entertainments, when given, are in the most 
liberal and tasteful style. His characteristics are energy, caution, 
shrewdness, clearness of judgment, and incessant application. He 
iias a good share of ho?ihomie, and a vein of genuine humor. 

Doubtless Mr. Clews is the most prominent business man of his 
years in the city. Ordinarily, the creation of a great banking 
business is the work of a life-time. He has founded a lirst-class 
banking house in New York as well as in London, with the most 
extensive ramifications, within the short space of ten years — a 
remarkable achievement, which, better than any words, reflects 
the character and qualifications of the architect. 

The New York Mercantile Journal^ in its issue of a recent date, 
pays Mr. Clews a high and well-deserved tribute. It is with plea- 
sure that we append the closing paragraph of tiie eulogy pro- 
nounced upon him by that journal. "VVe quote : — 

" Still in the prime of manhood, Mr. Clews stands iipon an eminence to which few 
others have been able to climb. Behind and around him lie, beautifully ordered, tho 
evidences of untiring exertions that have sustained and extended tlie welfare of the 
country, and filled his own coffers with well-earned rewards. The future brightens 
at his feel, full of noble opportimities. Who can doubt that the afteV-career of so 
gifled and valued a citizen will reflect still fairer honor upon the name of the American 
merchant, and the estimate in which the world shall hold the chai-acteristic type of the 
American gentleman?" 

274 



W. O, ALLISO]^. 



^'M. C. ALLISON, the subject of the following sketch, may 
be Justly termed a self-made man. He was born in Ches- 
'*^^^^^ ter County, Pennsylvania, in the year 181T, and is of 
Quaker parentage. At the early age of six 3'ears he lost his father 
by death, and ten years later his only surviving parent died ; thus 
leaving him solely dependent upon his own resources, aided only 
by his indomitable application and perseverance, for his successful 
advancement to the honorable position he now occupies in the 
mercantile and mechanical world. In the year 1836, being then 
only nineteen years of age, he commenced on his own account the 
business of wheelwright and wagon-builder in Philadelphia. 

At the first glance this would seem to have been a very inoppor- 
tune moment in which to launch his efforts on the sea of business, 
for the mercantile community must well remember the disastrous 
five years that followed the crisis of 1837, and the extremely 
depressed and unsettled condition of the general business commu- 
nity. This very depression, however, was well calculated to 
develop qualities necessary for success, and Mr. Allison's failure 
in business, in ISil, may be said to have been a blessing in dis- 
guise, bringing out, as it did, the latent strength and capacity of 
his nature, although it left him penniless and in debt. 

He did not long remain idle, but recommenced with the deter- 
mined enei'gy which is one of his marked characteristics, and in a 
few years was enabled to fit up his shops with improved wood- 
working machinery, and contract for supplying the cars needed by 
the railroad companies centering in Philadelphia. During this 
interval, he also accomplished the cherished object of paying off 

275 



2 W. C. ALLISON. 

tlie indebtedness due to his old creditors by the failure iu 1841, 
and thus gave evidence of the sterling quality of honesty that has 
ever actuated him in his business pursuits. 

The completion of the Pennsylvania Railroad gave an enlarged 
field over which to operate, and in 1851 Mr. Allison formed a 
business connection with Mr. John Murphy. The new firm built 
extensive shops on Market Street, west of Schuylkill Fourth Street, 
where their increased I'acilities found ample patronage, and the ex- 
cellence of their products gained them a high reputation for supe- 
riority of workmanship. In 1856 they purchased what is now 
the " Girard Tube Works," and commenced the manufacture of 
pipes for gas, water, and steam purposes, in addition to their for- 
mer business. This product, also, soon gained a high reputation 
for excellence, and the demand so largely increased that they were 
compelled to enlarge their buildings and increase their facilities 
for production. 

May, 1863, saw the car- works on Market Street entirely de- 
stroyed by fire ; but the energy so often displayed before stood iu 
good stead then, and in less than two weeks after the conflagration 
a building was procured and fitted up, and the employes of the 
firm were at work in it, rapidly completing their unfinished con- 
tracts ; and a site was purchased on which was erected the exten- 
sive works now occupied by the present firm, and known as " The 
Junction Car Works and Flue Mill.'' 

The late civil war gave a marked impetus to all kinds of manu- 
factures, and cre'3.ted an immense demand for machinery to increase 
the production of materials, and also to facilitate their transporta- 
tion over the various sections of the countrj-. Mr. Allison's 
shrewd business perceptions early conceived the necessity of an- 
other establishment in this country for the manufacture of lap- 
welded iron tubes for steam-boilers, and he therefore proceeded to 
adapt one of the buildings in the new works to this special purpose. 
While engaged in this enterprize, and before its completion, he 
lost his partner, Mr. Murphy, who died November 28, 1866, and 

276 



W. C. ALLISON. 3 

whose interest in the works in West Philadelphia Mr. Allison 
afterwards purchased from the heirs. In the following April the 
machinery was sufficiently completed, and the manufacture of 
lap-welded iron boilers and other tubes was commenced. The ex- 
cellence of the product, and the liberal manner in which the 
business has been conducted, have attracted a large patronage, 
which is rapidly increasing, and which bids fair to place the estab- 
lishment in the foremost rank of the industrial works of Phila- 
delphia. 

In July, 1868, Mr. Allison associated with him in the busi- 
ness his two sons, forming the present firm of W. C. Allison 
& Sons. Their property, " The Junction Car Works and Flue 
Mill," comprises ten acres of ground, about one half cf which is 
covered with buildings. The grounds are eligibly situated be- 
tween the tracks of the West Chester & Philadelphia and the 
Junction railroads, by means of which goods are received from, and 
shipped over, all of the railroads centering in Philadelphia: the 
works being connected by private sidings and turnouts with the 
main tracks of each of the roads named. 

The buildings are admirably adapted to the wants of the busi- 
ness, having been especially constructed with a view to obviate the 
necessity of an}' useless carrying of articles to and fro during the 
process of manufacture. Miles of railroad tracks cover the grounds, 
and over one hundred small cars, manufactured for the purpose, 
receive and carry the unmanufactured materials to the various shops 
and machines, and a locomotive, the property of the firm, is con- 
stantly employed in moving the enormous quantity of stock re- 
ceived and articles delivered from the works. About 20,000 tons 
of coal are annually consumed in driving the machinery and 
heating the iron worked in the flue-mill and smith shops, and 
over 12,000 tons of bar and plate iron, 5,000 tons of castings, and 
10,000,000 feet of lumber, are worked in the products of the firm 
yearly. To make these vast quantities of materials ready for the 
market requires the labor of about seven hundred men, and the 

277 



4 W. C. ALLISON. 

business of the firm will annually reach the enormous sum of 
2,000,000 dollars. 

Mr. Allison, in personal appearance, is of medium height, has 
keen, gray eyes, of fair complexion, and an intellectual cast of 
countenance. He is a warm friend and counselor to struo-orling 
young men, and his means have often been diverted to the pur- 
pose of relieving their necessities. Amid the constant anxieties 
incidental to the control of his large and increasing business, he 
yet finds ample time in which to devote himself to unostentatioua 
charity. 

' 278 ■ 



EEY. GEORGE H. HEPWORTH. 




'he most crowded audiences in any Protestant place of wor- 
ship in New York City are to be found at present at the 
Church of the Messiah, corner of Thirty-fourth Street and 
Park Avenue, and one of the most popular clergymen in New York 
is the subject of the present sketch, if we may judge from the inter- 
est he has excited of late in the community. Chapin and Henry 
Ward Beecher are, perhaps, the only divines who attract more 
people to hear them. Every seat in his church is occupied, and 
camp-stools have to be placed in the aisles and other places to sup- 
ply room for those who wish to attend the services. If this were 
any sudden or temporary excitement over a new preacher, we should 
not give much significance to the fact, but taken in connection with 
Mr. Hepworth's previous success in Boston, and growing powers, it 
deserves attention, and we do not hesitate to say that New York 
has received an important addition to her clergy in this young 
New Englander. 

Mr. Hepworth was born in Boston, Massachusetts, February 4, 
1833. He is of French descent, on his mother's side, and some 
of his ancestors met the fate of the popular leaders in the French 
Revolution. Two of them were guillotined in Paris during Robes- 
pierre's Reign of Terror. The rest of the family were utterly ruined 
financially by the confiscation of a large property. The ancestor 
from whom Mr. Hepworth is descended narrowly escaped death 
at the hands of the excited mob, was compelled to leave Paris, and 
died in London. 

If it is true that our life-work is ever decided before we are born, 
the law certainly applies in this case. It was the earnest wish of 

279 



2 REV. GEORaE H. HEPWORTH. 

the mother that one of her children should be a preacher. She 
was in many respects a remarkable woman, and would often ride a 
dozen miles of a cold winter night in order to hear some distin- 
guished and eloquent minister. She gave the preacher's tempera- 
ment to her son. In his earliest infancy, almost before he could 
speak plainly, he would mount his little chair for a pulpit, and de- 
liver a boyish sermon. He never experienced that doubt as to 
what his profession should be which characterizes so many. From 
childhood he entertained the single purpose of becoming a 
preacher. He was a pupil of the Boston Latin School, and gradu- 
ated from the Cambridge Divinity School in 1853. He was first 
settled over the Unitarian church in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in 
a community largely composed of Quakers, from whom he learned 
many valuable lessons. He remained here two years, and then 
returned to Cambridge and studied tliere for several months as a 
resident graduate. In December, 1858, a new society was oi-gan- 
ized among a few families in Boston, and Mr. Hepworth was in- 
vited to preside over it. The society, which adopted the name of 
the Church of tlie Unity, grew rapidly, and was soon able to erect 
a fine building in Newton Street, where audiences of fifteen hun- 
dred were frequently gathered to hear Mr. Hepworth preach. 

At the outbreak of the war, and during the whole of the struggle 
for the preservation of our national liberties, Mr. Hepworth was 
enthusiastically loyal, and labored earnestly in behalf of the North- 
ern cause. Not content with exerting himself in the pulpit and 
lyceum, and through the press, he joined General Banks' expedition 
in 1862, as an army chaplain, and remained at the South for a long 
period. He was soon appointed to a place on the General's staff 
with the supervision of the free-labor system in Louisiana. In this 
capacity he performed very valuable services to the country, and 
incurred the hatred of many of the planters, who more than once 
threatened his life. Their opprobrium and threats, however, were 
more than balanced by the gratitude and thanks of the freedmen, 
who found in Mr. Hepworth a tried and sure friend. Upon his 

280 



REV. GEORGE H. HEPWO^TH. 3 

return North to resume his pastoral duties, Mr. Hepvvorth embodied 
liis experience in a book, "The Whip, Hoe, and Sword," and also 
delivered a number of lectures before Ijceums and other associa- 
tions throap;hout the country, particularly during the Presidential 
election of 1864. 

Mr. Hepworth's scheme of work in Boston was large and varied. 
His powers were all brought into play and he carried on many im- 
portant enterprises. Everything he did was made subordinate to 
his preaching, and he has underatken but little purely secular labor 
except lecturing. 

Feeling sure that, as among the Methodists, a great many young 
men would gladly enter the sacred work of the ministry if they had 
the means to pay for an education, he founded, almost single-handed, 
a divinity school. It was a large enterprise and one destined to have 
a great influence on the body to which he belongs. During the 
first year he received into his school, called "The Boston School for 
the Ministr}'," about fourteen students. The clergymen of Boston 
generously volunteered their services as professors, and a work was 
begun much like that which Spnrgeon is so successfully carrying on 
in London. At the end of the first year two students were ordained 
for the ministry. The movement so far increased tliat at the be- 
ginning of the second year it was found necessary to rent four houses 
for the proper accomodation of the school and the resident profes- 
sor. Very nearly forty students entered upon the course of study. 
At this juncture the authorities at Cambridge made a proposition 
to so alter their charter that the same class of students could be 
received into the Divinity School. The proposition was accepted 
by Mr. Hepworth, who after putting into the Unitarian ministry 
about twenty ministers transferred his Middle and Junior classes — 
some sixteen students — to Harvard. Their success in the ministry 
amply proves that the plan as entertained by Mr. Hepworth was 
a valuable one. 

In February, 1860, impressed with the idea that a large propor- 
tion of the population in great cities do not, foi" some reason or other, 

281 



4 REV GEORGE H. HEPWORTH. 

attend upon pulpit ministrations in our churches, Mr. Ilepworth 
conceived the idea of reaching tliis unchurched mass by preaching 
to them from the ])latform of the Tlieater. He was strongly oj)- 
posed in the movement by nearly all of his best friends ; but per- 
sisting in the project because he conceived it to be the only way in 
which to reach the masses, and backed by two gentlemen only, Mr. 
Wm.H. Baldwin, President of the Young Men's Christian Union, 
who has been his generous helper in all his movements, and Mr. D, W. 
EuBsel, he held his first service in the Boston Theater. It was a novel 
movement, and might have daunted any one. An exciting Sunday 
that was to all the friends of the project, while its opponents shook 
their heads, and pronounced it simply a castle in the air that wonUl 
tumble down and bring ruin on its Oi'iginator. At7|- o'clock in the 
evening as many as five thousand people were crowded into the 
building, and hundreds went away unable to gain even standing 
room. Mr. Ilepworth vindicated his foresight. Since then the ex- 
periment has been repeated in all the large cities on the continent 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and always with a wonderful success. 
In Boston, services were held during the three winter months, and 
the success which attended them was so great that thej^ have been 
continued ever since. In this way thousands of persons have been 
reached who would never have felt the power of religion but fur 
these ministrations. The scores of letters which Mr. Ilepworth re- 
ceived constantly from those who had been led from their bad ways 
to a better life amply testify to the exceedingly great value of the 
movement. The audiences were composed of respectable people, 
including many young men who had been repelled by the exclu- 
siveness of the ordinar}^ churches, and pi'evented from attending any 
religious service. Of all the clergymen who took part in this theater 
preaching, Mr. Ilepworth was the most popular by far. 

Mr. Ilepworth continued to preach in Boston, after his retui-n 
from the South, until last spring, when he received a call from the 
Church of the Messiah, in this city. The terms of this offer were 
so liberal and the opportunities for usefulness afforded by it were so 

2S2 



KEY. GEORGE U. HEPWOllTK. 5 

great that Mr. Ilepwortli accepted it and began to preach last Octo- 
ber, with the result we have already described. 

Mr. Hepworth exhibits the combined personal qualities of the 
French and English character. Through his mother he inherited 
the buoyancy and vivacity of the natives of Za Belle France, while 
he also possesses the zeal and religious convictions of Puritan Eng- 
land. He has a rare magnetic powder as a speaker, and the most 
commonplace truths assume a new force and significance when com- 
ing from his lips. He speaks with great impressiveness, nut as a 
zealot and fanatic, but as one who has felt certain truths strongly, 
and wishes to induce others to believe in them. He has a remark- 
able power of attracting mixed audiences, such as those at Cooper 
Institute and Boston Theater meeting, and he seems especially 
gratified to be a jjreacher to the masses. His sermons are never 
abstruse and are always extemporaneous, so that the full effect of 
their admirable delivery is felt. 

Mr. Hepworth has a grand future opening befoi-e hhn. Tiie field 
is ripe for the harvest and awaits the hand of the reaper. No want 
is so severely felt in our time as that of free preaching of the best 
quality for the masses. We have plenty of churches for the wealthy 
and the well-to-do, but there are no Protestant places of worship 
which are thrown open, like the cathedrals of old, to rich and poor 
alike, with the exception of Trinity, St. PauTs, and St. John's. Our 
popular preachers have their churches in fashionable localities, far 
distant from the homes of the working people. Most of them main- 
tain mission churches in the poorer quarters, but these are objection- 
able on many accounts. The true Christian faith is not represented 
by separate churches for upper and Imver classes, but by single 
congregations in which both are united. Such was the Music Hall 
in Boston under the ministrations of Theodore Parker; such are 
Newman Hall's and Spurgeon's churches in London, and so also, 
to some extent, is Henry Ward Beecher's Plymouth Church. 

Mr. Hepworth possesses many qualifications for conducting a 
church of this kind. He is personally attractive, and he holds peo- 

283 



^ EEV. GEORGE H. HEPWORTH. 

pie by liis magnetic power and earnestness. It is liis desire to have 
a large, free, and middle-class society, M'itli a building big enough 
to contain all who want to come, and he has already proposed to 
his congregation to sell their present expensive edifice and erect an- 
other more suitable for this purpose. What he wants is a cheerful, 
pleasant liall, with no " dim religious light," but plenty of warmth 
and sunshine, which will seat four or five thousand people, and can 
be used for secular purposes on week-day evenings. There is but 
little doubt that he could fill such a place without an effort. 

New York stands ready with open arms to welcome such a 
preacher. His present audiences are not ir^ainly composed of 
Unitarians, but the majority belong to other denominations, who 
have been attracted by the man and not by the name. This seems 
to be the general tendency of the age among the clergy, and it is 
in singular contrast to the present character of the press. Few 
persons are converted by the creed, but thousands follow the 
standard of a great leader. It is Beecher, Chapin, Hall, Adams, 
the Tyngs (father and son). Bellows, Ewer, and Crosby, who mold 
public opinion and inaugurate great enterprises. Others may be 
faithful pastors, practical workers, and useful preachers, and may 
found complete and lasting societies. It is the powerful and 
aggressive minds, however, who act upon what may be called the 
preacher's raw material — namely, the world at large — and enroll 
the latter beneath the banners of Christ. It is to this class that 
Mr. Hepworth belongs, and we anticipate fruitful results from his 
laboi'S. 

There is so much misunderstanding in the community concerning 
the faith commonly called Unitarian, that we transcribe from Mr. 
Ilepworth's writings a brief synopsis of their peculiar dogmas : — • 

" The Uuitarians do not essentially differ from the otlier sects of 
Christendom. First of all, and above all, we are distinctly a 
Christian sect. While we do not believe that Jesus Christ was God 
— and the only reason we have for not believing it is in the fact that 
Jesus constantly said that he was the son of God, and therefore not 

284 



RET. GEOKGE n. HEP WORTH. 7 

God himself — we do believe that he is our Loi-d and Saviour, 
the divinely-inspired Teacher of the Word. We are constantly 
told by those who ought to know better, that we do not believe in 
Christ. Nothing can be more false. We claim that we more 
truly believe in him and in the authority of his mission than any 
other religious sect. We are sure that the scientific and Biblical 
criticism which marks our age, while it is gradually compelling 
other denominations to recede from many of their present positions 
as wholly untenable, will only add strength to us. Science is in 
sympathy with that idea of Christianity which is peculiar to 
Unitarianism. We look upon Jesus Christ as the miraculously-en- 
dowed, and only-begotten Son of God. We do not differ from any 
other religious sect in our estinuite of his mission. But we do insist 
that, in spite of the traditions of any church, he is just and only 
what he said he was— the Door, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 
I have no doubt there are thousands who attend so-called orthodox 
chui'ches who believe just as we do on this subject, and I have 
good reason to believe that there are scores of ministers of other 
denominations who do not essentially differ from us in this respect. 
" We believe, secondly, in the Fatherhood of God, and in this we 
are in perfect sympathy with Christendom, who, for the last half 
century, have been coming nearer to our position in this matter. 
God the avenging Power has, through a better appreciation of the 
scope and tendency of Christianity, given place to God our Fathei 
which art in Heaven. All men preach this now, and it is the 
ever-blessed force that is moving the world. 

'■'• In the third place, we believe that there is good in all men and 
ail sects. Kot a single denomination Imt has its mission and its 
place in God's providence. Let me illustrate. A river flows 
through the plain. Away up yonder, on the right, it digs a chan- 
nel through the rich, loamy soil, whose particles are taken up by 
the current, which is colored by them. Here, right in front of us, 
it flows through a bed of clay, and the impalpable particles tinge 
the water so that it looks like a different stream. Off there, on the 

2j5 



8 REV. GEORGE H. HEPWORTH. 

left, it makes its way tlirougli a stratum of fine sand, and again 
the earthy atoms give character to the water. Take three vials 
and fill them with the water in these three different localities, and 
put them side by side on the shelf. The casual observer, when he 
looks at them, says at once that they w^ere taken out of three dif- 
ferent rivers, whose geographical positions are widely apart. Not 
so, however. Wait for thirty minutes and let the water settle, and 
you find, to your surprise, that it is exactly alike in all three vials, 
^ow, the residuum is what I call the ism of the church — here Epis- 
copalianism, there Presbyterian ism, and there again Universalism. 
The water in all sects comes from the River of Life. The sediment 
which colors it is some peculiar form of v/orship. The trouble in 
the religious world is, that so many of us think more of the color- 
infif matter than of the water itself. In hot sectarian times we 
shake the vial, and then how very different we seem to be : at 
other times we let the waters settle, and then how very much alike 
we all are after all. We are closer to each other than any of us 
think. I take it that, in the great Judgment Day, the good Lord 
will not ask us what church we attended, but how much of his 
dear spirit we have had, and that will settle the whole matter." 

286 



JAY GOULD. 




IKE the majority of the prominent men of this progressive 
^v^ age, Jay Goukl is the architect of his own fortmies. He 
was horn in the town of Roxbury, Delaware County, New 
York, on the 27th of May, 1836. The Goulds are of Enghsh de- 
jjcent. The American branch of the family was first planted in 
Fairfield, Connecticut, but at the close of the Revolution they were 
foremost among the hardy and adventurous pioneers who explored 
and opened the wilds of Delaware Count}'. Mr. John B. Gould, the 
father of our great financier and railroad king, owned a small farm 
which, despite his most strenuous exertions and careful manage- 
ment, only yielded sufficient income to support his somewhat nu- 
merous family in a st^de of severe simplicity. Born to the compar- 
atively hard lot of a mountain farmer's son, we find Jay Gould to- 
day, in his 34th year, one of the wealthiest of our self-made million- 
aires, and one of the foremost figures in the honored ranks of our 
men of progress. And yet there is nothing of the marvelous in his 
career. Fortune did not favor him as she has favored others in her 
fantastic ft-eaks ; she merely rewarded him for untiring patience and 
indomitable energy. No Aladdin's lamp lit tiie path of our youu" 
adventurer. Rugged and steep was the road by which the poor 
farmer's son commenced his daring pilgrimage from the dark and 
dreary domain of poverty, to the bright regions illumined by the 
sun of prosperity, and, but for the remarkalde tenacity of purpose 
which has ever characterized him, and the extraordinary abilities 
with which he is endowed, he could never have reached the splen- 
did position he now occupies. In the story of Jay Gould's early 
struggles there is much to encourage such young men of talent ns 

287 



2 JAY GOULD. 

are in tlie liaLit of considering poverty an insurmountable obstacle; 
and for the benefit of those who are too prone to despair at the first 
rebuff, we give the following leading incidents. 

Gould was taught to make himself useful while yet a child, and 
developed an unquenchable thirst for knowledge at a very tender 
age. When a boy of twelve, he toiled through the da}' on his 
father's farm, and devoted his evenings and all the hours he could 
steal from the night, to the study of such educational works as 
lie had been provided with. His elder sisters, young ladies of con- 
siderable culture, afforded, the young student every aid, but the pu- 
pil was so apt and assiduous that he soon caught up with his teach- 
ers, and started alone on a higlier course, his favorite study being 
mathematics. Toung Gould was sent to the District school about 
this time, but so proficient had he become by his home education 
that he mastered the entire course at this institution within a few 
months. His thirst for knowledge increasing with his acquirements, 
tlie boy now importuned his parents to send him to a neighboring 
town to attend an academic school which had considerable reputa- 
tion at that time, but his father objected, saying : " You are too 
young, my son ; the money will be poorly invested. You shall go 
when you get older." The impatient boy could not understand how 
one can be too young to learn. Thoughtful and observant beyond 
his years, he finally arrived at the conclusion that, with such a nu- 
merous famil}' to support, his father could not well spare the money 
necessary to maintain him at the academy. Here was the real diffi- 
culty, and to most boys it would have appeared insurmountable. 
" Where there is a will, there is a way," however, and as little Jay 
had a most indomitable will of his own, he very soon found out a way 
of assuaging his burning thirst for knowledge without putting liis 
parents to any expense. Full of hope and ambition, the brave boy 
pondered over the many difficulties in the way of his acquiring a 
more extended education, and at last he formed the grand resolve 
that he could and would work his way through them. Immediately 
on forming this resolution, the boy presented himself to his father 

288 



JAY GOULD. 3 

and asked permission to leave home, undertaking to support himself 
while completing his education. Little dreaming how deliberately 
the boy had made up his mind, and how" earnestly the request was 
made, the father, in view of the youngster's evident unlitness and 
strong disinclination for farm life, jokingly replied: " Certainly, my 
son, for you are good for little at home." Master Jay had long dis- 
covered that he was not intended for a farmer, and, taking his 
father's answer as serious, he returned joyful thanks for his freedom, 
and at once retired to his room and made preparation for his first 
start iu life. The next morning the self-reliant boy hastily arose 
from the breakfast-table and amazed his father by holding out his 
hand and saying : " Good-bye." Now came the discovery that the 
boy was really in earnest. Tears and entreaties would not alter his 
resolution, but wliile he wept bitterly at the grief of his mother and 
sisters, he implored his father to let him go. The old man's heart 
was too full for him to speak, a!-.J, taking his silent wonderment for 
tacit consent, the boy embraced his relatives in turn, and, snatching 
up the little bundle he had prepared over-night, bounded across the 
threshold, and ere they had so far recovered from their surprise as 
to endeavor to recall him, he was out of sight. 

Smiles, born of sanguine hopes of future success, soon dispelled 
the tears which welled at the anguish of parting from the loved ones 
at home, and our young adventurer struck out manfully on the road 
to fame and fortune, w^ith a spare suit of clothes in his bundle, and 
fifty cents in his pocket. While footing it bravely through the wild, 
mountainous, and sparsely settled regions between Roxbury and 
Ilobart, the seat of the academy he had so long desired to enter, 
little Jay felt sorrowful and joyful by turns ; sorrowful, as he thought 
of the dangers and uncertainties which he knew he must contend 
witli, and joyful when, in imaginary triumph over all obstacles, he 
was cheered witli a prophetic glimpse of a briglit and glittering ca- 
reer of fame and usefulness. With a heart palpitating with alter- 
nate hopes and fears, our hero arrived at Ilobart, sought out the 
principal of the academj^, and related his simple but touching story. 
19 2S9 



4 JAYGOULD. 

Deeply moved at tlie youth's earnestness and courage, the principal 
interested himself warmly in his behalf, and succeeded in procuring 
him employment as book-keeper in a store kept by the village black- 
smith. This employment was at once a source of profit and in- 
struction. Young Gould joyfully set to work, and soon mastered 
the intricacies of the worthy Yulcan's accounts, so that only a por- 
tion of his mornings and evenings were taken up with them and 
the balance of his time was spent in the Academy, and thus Jay 
Gould kept his word with his father, and supported himself while 
he completed his education. 

Left entirely to his own resources, and ambitious to avail hini- 
gelf of all the advantages the Hobart Academy afforded to aspiring 
youth, little Jay devoted himself assiduously to his studies — ad- 
hering all the while to a most rigid system of industry and econ- 
omy. At once a school-boy, and, by necessity, a man, he mingled 
little in the sports and pastimes of his companions; and, too proud 
to accept favors which he could not reciprocate, he never joined in 
their revels and festivities. The future Napoleon of railroads was 
as reserved with his classmates at Hobart as young Napoleon 
Bonaparte was with his comrades at the artillery school of Brieniic 
As a natural consequence of his close application, young Gould 
made such surprising progress in his studies that in little moi-n 
than six months he passed thiuugh the prescribed course of instruc- 
tion to the entire satisfaction of his tutors, and in a manner which 
fully repaid his kind patron, the principal, for the interest he hail 
taken in his welfare. 

Having thus triumphed in his first struggle in life. Jay Gould 
left school with increased confidence in himself, and boldly faced 
the next great obstacle in the way of progress — poverty. Leaving 
the service of the village blacksmith for more profitable employ- 
ment in a hardware store, he still devoted his leisure hours to sys- 
tematic study — his appetite for knowledge growing by what it fed 
upon. Already proficient in mathematics, he now turned his at- 
tention to the best works he could procure on surveying, trigonom- 

290 



JAY GOULD. 5 

etr}', and ergineeriiip:; — progressing amazingly in the latter study. 
The only recreation he allowed himself was in the pernsal of the 
])ages of the great historians — in which profitable amusement he 
took intense delight. Gould is not tired of history yet ; his library 
is richly stored with standard works of this class, and he is seldom 
seen out of business without a volume of some favorite historical 
author before him, or within reach. In his new vocation, young 
Gould applied himself with such diligence as to give entire satis- 
faction, but scarcely a day passed, summer or winter, that he did 
not rise by four o'clock in the morning, and devote the intervening 
hours between that and the time appointed for the commencement 
of his daily labors to his books and slate. 

Having determined to acquire a practical knowledge of survey- 
ing, he borrowed an old compass and a set of surveying imple- 
ments, and, with the aid of the boys of the village, wliom lie 
induced by presents of toys of his own invention and manufac- 
ture to act as flag and chain bearers, he succeeded to his cntii-e 
satisfaction. 

While making these extraordinary efforts to increase his knowl- 
edge in his so-called leisure hours, young Gould applied liimself to 
liis business with such unusual industry and enei'gy that his em- 
ployer was never tired of praising him. Such was the confidence 
placed in the integrity and intelligence of the little prodigy that at 
the ao-e of fifteen he was made a full iiartner, and shortlv after this 
promotion, was intrusted with entire charge of the business, which 
under his skillful management largely increased. Visiting New 
York and Albany for the purpose of making purchases of hardware 
and material for his business, the young man made such a favora- 
ble impression ujxtn those wilh whom he came in contact, that he 
was able to open an account with the well-known firm of Plielps, 
Dodire & Co. of the former, and Messrs. Rathbone & Co. and S. H. 
Ransom and other manufacturers of the latter city upon the best 
credits. Furnishing only a limited field for his active mind, the 
business in which he was engaged proved uncongenial to liis tastes, 

1201 



6 JAT GOULD. 

and accordingly, in the spring of 1852, he left his interest in the 
business to his father, who had sold out his farm, and engaged to 
take charge of a surveying party at a salarj' of ' $20 per month. 
The hardware business requiring all his little capital, young Gould 
started on his first surveying expedition with only five dollars in 
his pocket. The object of the survey was the completion of a new 
map of Ulster County, The weather was bitterly cold when he 
started for the initial point, and not being able to afford the luxury 
of an overcoat, he footed it at the rate of forty miles a day in order 
to keep his blood in brisk circulation. Entering immediately 
upon the laborious duties of his new profession with the cheerful- 
ness of one who has at length found a congenial occupation, the 
young surveyor progressed satisfactorily until his employer became 
suddenly embarrassed and unable to pay. But two ways remained 
to meet this unexpected calamity — to submit to a loss of his earn- 
ings — not a dollar of which had been drawn so far, or to go on 
and carry out the enterprise on his own account. Gould's decision 
was promptly taken. He resolved in connection with two others 
of the party, who were similarly situated, to adopt the latter 
course, and, nothing daunted by the magnitude of the undertaking, 
their misfortunes at the start, or the obstacles j-et to be encoun- 
tered, the enterprising trio went to work with a determination 
which deserved success. But alas! about this time Gould's caj)- 
ital had become grievously reduced by the purchase of a pair of 
shoes, a straw hat, and other necessities, and the day came when of 
the five dollars with which he started hit ten cents remained! 
Yes, Jay Gould, the millionaire, can remember when ten cents was 
all the money he owned in the world. His first thought while in 
this dilemma was to return to Eoxbury on foot, but then he re- 
membered that he would want more than ten cents' worth of food 
while trudging over the long and dreary hundred miles between 
him and home. How Gould came out of this unpleasant predica- 
ment is best told in the words in which he himself related the story 

to the writer : — • 

292 



JAY GOULD. 7 

"I was out of money, that is to say, all that I had at my command was a ten-cent 
piece, and with that last coin I had determined not to part. (I did not part with ir, and 
I never shall. I Iveep it now as a memento.) Fall was approacliing, and unless our 
surveys were completed before the winter set in, the completion of our entei-prise 
would have been delayed until tiie next season, subjecting iis to additional expense. 
This I saw would probably cause tlie abandonment of the enterprise, and I was deter- 
mined to carry it through if possible. Had I had sufficient money to last me on a 
journey back to Delaware for fresh supplies, I could not liave afforded the time. I was 
among entire strangers and consequently without credit. I could neither advance nor 
retreat without money, and so deeply did I deplore the prospective ruin of our enterprise, 
that I could not refrain from tears. "When tliini^s are at the worst, however, they can 
oidy change for the better, and just when the clouds of my despair were thickest, Fortune 
came smiling through tiiem. Tired out with my last day's tramp, hungry and dejected, I 
was resting in a roci\y nook near the town of Shawaugunk, vvitli my tears trickling 
down on the fr.co of the compass, when I was suddenly liailed by one of -the farmers of 
the neighborhood, who asked me to accompany him home and make him a noon-mark, 
which is a north and south line drawn so that the shadow of an upright object thrown 
on it indicates the time of mid-day. Arrived at the farm, I was invited to take dinner 
first, .an invitation which I joyfully accepted, as I had supped on a couple of small crack- 
ers the previous uiglit, and, although I had been hard at work since daylight, had eaten 
nothing else, and consequently felt exceedingly faint. After a hearty dinner I made the 
noon-mark and was about bidding the hospitable farmer ''good day," when he asked 
what my charge was for the mark. I told him he was welcome to it, but he generously 
insisted on paying me hnlf-a-dollar, assuring me that that was the price his neighbor 
liad paid for one. I accepted the money and started on my way rejoicing. Had I that 
moment discovered a new continent I could not have been more elated, for with sixty 
cents in my pocket, and the prospect of making other noon-marks along the route, I 
could now see a way to carry my enterprise to a successful termination. I can never 
forget that day. From that time forward I prosecuted my labors with a light heart ; 
the feme of my noon-marks preceded me ; applications came in from the farmers all 
round, and out of this new source of supply I paid all the expenses of my surveys, and 
came out at tiie completion with six dollars in my pocket." 

The labors of our young surveyor were crowned with the success 
he so richly deserved, and Gould's map of Ulster County M^as pro- 
nounced accurate in every detail, and consequently a very respect- 
able sura was realized by its sale. 

Encouraged by the progress he had made so far, young Gould 
determined to extend his sphere of operations, and with this end in 
view he sold ont his interest in the Ulster County Map, disposed of 
his hardware business, and witli what he then considered "plenty 
of money '' at his command, started in search of " fresh fields and 
pastures new." While prospecting in Albany he became associated 
with the late John Delafield in an application to the State Legisla- 

293 



8 JAY GOULD. 

ture for aid in the completion of a topographical survey of tlie State 
of ISTew York, Favorable progress was made, but before any thing 
material was accomplished Mr. Delalield died. With cliaracteristic 
boldness Gould at once abandoned the idea of procuring legislative 
aid and decided to prosecute the enterprise upon a more limited 
scale and upon his own account. Commencing in the spring of 
1853 Gould completed his survey of Albany County by tlie fall ; 
during the ensuing winter he drafted out his surveys and produced 
a map which he sold on completion at a very handsome protit. 
During the summer of '53 Gould was employed by tlie Cohoes 
Company to survey and make a map of the village in which their 
manufactory is situate. This map netted him $600. In the sauje 
year he surveyed and laid out the Albany and Niscayuna Plank 
Koad. This was a task w'hich presented great difficulties to the 
young surveyor, what with calculation of grades, excavations, and 
embankments, but he manfully mastered them all, and, completing 
his work to the entire satisfaction of the company, was liberally re- 
warded. The amount of hard work Gould accomplished in 1853 is 
almost incredible, and it may well be believed that he invariably rose 
at day-break, and seldom retired to rest before midnight. Return- 
ing to Albany about the end of winter, Gould amused himself 
perfecting his business arrangements and preparing his plan of 
campaign for the ensuing season. 

Early in April he sent a company of surveyors into Delaware 
County, New York, for the purpose of taking surveys for a map of 
that locality. He also organized and dispatched similar expeditions 
for Lake and Geauga counties, Ohio, and Oakland County, Michi- 
gan. Gould's personal attention was given to the supervision of 
the drafting department, but he kept himself familiar with all the 
details of the business. Nothing escaped his notice. During the 
summer he usually traveled from point to point during the night 
and such was his power of endurance, that only a few hours of rest 
would lit him for the business of the day. He kept tlie most vigi- 
lant watch of his emploj^ees, never giving them the least notice of 

294 



JAY G OULD. 9 

his corning, and always made his appearance when least expected. 
Thanks to an iron constitution, and his wonderful powers of endu- 
rance, Gould not only accomplished the work he had mapped out 
tor himself but was able to devote sixty days during the summer 
to the survey of a proposed railroad from JS^ewbiirg to Syracuse. 
It must be remembered that by this time Gould had made himself 
a tolerably proficient engineer, most of his studies in this direction 
liaving been practical. The labors of the latter enterprise proved 
far more laborious than had been anticipated, but having under- 
taken the work he Avas determined to complete it. Gould paid 
dearly however for thus overtasking himself. At length he com- 
pleted the last profile of the proposed road, drew up his detailed 
report and afiixod his signature thereto, and an hour afterward he 
was prostrate with ty])hoid fever. For some time his recovery was 
despaired of. While slowly recovering he undertook to resume his 
labors on account of the accumulation of pressing engagements, and 
the result was an alarming relapse which was followed b}'' violent 
inflammation of the lungs. These successive fits of sickness com- 
pelled Mr. Gould to curtail his operations for a time and he accord- 
ingly entered into negotiations which resulted in the sale of his 
interest in the Ohio and Michigan surveys. He also sold his map 
of Delaware Gouirty, the publisher of the Alban^^ map being the 
purchaser. Gould recovered slowly from tlie severe shock his con- 
ttitution had received, but during his convalescence his active mind 
compelled him to engage in some occupation which would amuse 
him until his bodily strength returned. AVhile traversing Delaware 
County on his surveying expedition Gould had collected all the data 
he could obtain as to the history of the different localities, and, 
while invalided, he set to work on his notes and recollections and 
shortly afterward published his History of Delaware County — an 
exceedingly well-written and highly interesting volume of some four 
hundred and fifty pages. lie was engaged in preparing similar work;* 
on Greene, Ulster, and Sullivan counties, but health and vigor re- 
turning he laid down his pen, and again busily engaged himself sur- 

295 



10 JAY GOULD. 

veying and engineering. While thus engaged his attention wa3 
accidentally directed to the business of tanning, and, studying the 
details, he concluded that it was more profitable than the work he 
was engaged in, and finally decided to make a venture in that line. 
He accordingly set out on a tour for the purpose of discovering a 
good location, and, at the expiration of several months during which 
time he traversed the favorite tanning regions of New York and 
Pennsylvania, he was finally attracted to the extensive forests in 
the counties of Luzerne and Monroe, Pennsylvania. These forests, 
Avhich are filled with hemlock affording a superior quality of bark 
for tanning, had just been rendered accessible by tlie opening of the 
Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad. On examining this 
region Gould was satisfied that no better location could be found, 
and he at once made a reconnoisance survey, effected extensive pur- 
chases of land upon the Lehigh, bordering upon the counties of 
Luzerne and Monroe, and fixed upon a site for the settlement lie 
proposed to found. Having completed these arrangements, onr 
young pioneer returned to New York and laid his plans befoi*e the 
Hon. Zadock Pratt, of Prattsville, the Avell-known tanner. Pratt 
was so well pleased with Gould's enteri>rise that he at once 
started to examine the location. The result was that he approved 
of every thing and work was immediately commenced by the 
Bubsequently well-known firm of Pratt & Gould. 

Having perfec^ted his arrangements with Pratt, Mr. Gould re- 
turned to New York State, purchased teams, wagons, and the neces- 
sary tools and materials for clearing the forest and founding a town ; 
engaged skillful mechanics and laborers, and shipped them forward. 
Then taking a more rapid conveyance he preceded them and made 
his final surveys and preparations. Some idea may be formed of 
the energy and ability Gould displayed in this new enterprise by 
the fact that within one hundred days from the time the first tree 
was felled his tannery was in full operation. As a compliment to 
his young and energetic partner Mr. Pratt christened the new settle- 
ment Gouldsboro. The tannery in active operation, Gould turned 

296 



JAY GOULD. 11 

Ms atteution to the construction of a good road connecting Lis 
thriving and rapidly growing settlement with the Delaware, 
Lackawanna, and Western Railroad. Having been appointed post- 
master, Gould then made application to Congress and procured the 
passage of an act establishing a daily stage. Shortly afterward a 
company was organized under the name of the Delaware and Le- 
high Plank Road Company of which Mr. Gould was unanimously 
chosen president. Having procured a favorable charter, Gould at 
once commenced the construction of the road. The work was prose- 
cuted vigorously all through, and the road was completed at a cost 
of $25,000. 

Remembering the circumstances under which he first left his 
father's huuible home the founder of Gouldsboro established and 
maintained a school at his own expense. Remembering in the first 
days of his prosperity the power which had sustained him in adver- 
sity Gould gave a suitable lot and liberally subscribed for the erec- 
tion of a church. 

In the early part of 1857 Mr. Gould took an active part in the 
establishment of the Stroudsburg Bank, and was for some time the 
largest stockholder. Here he conmienced his career as a financier. 
He was acknowledged to be one of the most able and industrious 
members of the board of directors, and, his influence prevailing 
with the administration, the institution went through the disastrous 
panic which destroyed so many older banks without suspending. 
The foresight and judgment of our young financier also maintained 
the credit of Pratt & Gould throughout the terrible panic of 
1857 while other firms engaged in the tanning business were utterly 
overwhelmed by their losses. In 1859 Gould bought out Mr. Pratt's 
interest in the Gouldsboro property, and shortly afterward associ- 
ated with him Messrs. Chas. M. Leupp & Co., one of the oldest 
and most respectable firms in the trade — selling them an interest in 
the establishment for eighty thousand dollars. The sudden death 
of Mr. Chas. M. Leupp, which occurred in October, 1859, rendering 
a settlement of his estate necessary, Mr. Gould was compelled at 

' 297 



12 JAY GOULD. 

great loss to cancel verj important arrangements for tlie extension 
of the business. This interruption was rendered still more serious 
by misunderstandings with the surviving partner of Leupp & Co., 
and about tliistinie the complete stagnation in the trade necessitated 
the closing of the tannery. The trade reviving, however, Mr. 
Gould, now sole manager and proprietor, re-opened the establish- 
ment and was soon employing about two hundred and fifty men 
and manufacturing a million and a half of pounds of sole leather 
annually. 

Wliile engaged as a surveyor and engineer Mr. Gould had eager- 
ly availed himself of every opportunity for familiarizing himself 
with railroad matters. Thoroughly acquainted with the geography 
of the country, possessed of valuable information as to its agricul- 
tural capabilities and mineral wealth, he took the deepest interest 
in all enterprises for facilitating communication between the differ- 
ent sections, and longed to connect himself with some kindred spirits 
who would aid in carrying out the grand schemes he had formed. 
Not being able to find the men he wanted, Gould made up his mind to 
start on his own resources. xVbout this time the opportunity he had 
60 long desired suddenly presented itself. The shock occasioned by 
the celebrated Schuyler frauds having caused railroad securities to 
decline to a nominal figure, the far-seeing Gould invested the bulk 
of his capital and every dollar that he could borrow besides, and 
secured for himself the control of the mortgage bonds of the Rutland 
and Washington, and Troy and Rutland railroads. This dai'ing 
speculation proved profitable bej^ond his most sanguine expectations, 
and in less than two years from the time he assumed control Mr. 
Gould succeeded in extricating tlie roads from their pecuniary em- 
barrassments and consolidating them with the Saratoga, Whitehall,' 
and Rensselaer Railroad, under the latter title. 

Jay Gould closed his connection with the Saratoga, Whitehall, 
and Rensselaer Railroad Company for the purpose of embarking 
liis fortunes in the Erie Railway, and at tliis time he was the only 
man who believed in the possibility of saving that magnificent prop- 

298 



JAY GOULD. 13 

erty from bankruptcy and ruin. Gould had bought the bonds and 
stock of the roads he had consolidated with the Saratoga, Wljitehall, 
and Rensselaer at ten cents on the dollar, and had, by his skillful 
management and able financiering, worked them up above par, and 
made the road one of the most prosperous in the State; and he was 
confident that with honest, economical, and, withal, enterprising 
management the Erie road could be extricated fiom its pecuniary 
and other difficulties and made the principal business thoroughfare 
of the continent. Gould's first opponents in the good work of im- 
proving the condition and restoring the prosi)crity of the Erie Rail 
way were Drew and Yanderbilt, who suffered a complete defeat at 
the hands of the young reformer. The new administration (!lected 
on Gould's ticket, with John S. Eldridge as president, did not 
fulfill expectations, however. Eldridge subsequently resigned, 
and Gould was finally persuaded to accept the [jresidenc}' of the 
corporation. 

The history of the Erie corporation uruler the present able man- 
agement is too well known to he narrated here; all that need be 
said on this head is that President Gould and his associates have 
not only succeeded in rescuing the road from ruin, but they have 
established its independence on an enduring basis, and made it at 
once the greatest and best line in the country. x\Tid now that the 
reader knows enough of the history of Jay Gould to be able to form 
an opinion of this remarkable man he will doubtless share in the 
growing belief that there is a glorious future for the Erie Railway, 
notwithstanding the many difficulties its enterprising management 
has yet to overcome. As to the subject of our sketch, it only re- 
mains to be said that if his astounding progress in the past may be 
taken as an augury of future success there is no position in the coun- 
try to which he may not aspire. 

299 



JOSIAH G. HOLLAND, 

(Timothy Titcomb.) 
BY S. R. WELLS. 

?^¥0SIAII GILBEIIT HOLLAND was born in BelcLertown, 
"^'^^ Hampshire County, Mass., July 24, 1819. His father was 
>^^y a machinist and inventor, a man of singular simplicity and 
purity of character, whose virtues his son has celebrated in a ])oem 
entitled "Daniel Gray," published several years ttgo in the AilciJitic 
Jfont/dt/. Owing to an entire failure of health while fitting for col- 
lege, he was obliged to relinquish an academic course; and when 
twenty-one years old he entered theofficeofDrs. Barrett and Thomp- 
son, of Northampton, as a student of medicine. He wt^s graduated 
as a doctor of medicine at the Berkshire Medical Collc<re in ISM. 
and immediately thereafter selected Springfield as the theater of his 
professional practice. He associated for a time with Dr. Charles 
Bailey, a classmate, and afterward with Dr. Charles Eobinson, also 
a classmate. (Dr. Robinson will be recognized as the recent Gov- 
ernor of Kansas.) After a three years' experience Dr. Holland 
gave up his profession and entered upon a more congenial line at' life, 
literature, to which all his natural tastes led liim. While [»re]>aring 
for this new field he became teacher in a private S(;liool in Tiich- 
mond, Ya., and \\ bile thus engaged, was chosen superintendent of 
the public schools of the city of Vicksburg, in Mississipjn. This 
office he aciepted, and satisfactorily discharged its dnties for a year 
and a quarter, when events of a domestic nature called him back 
to Massachusetts. On his arrival at his Springfield home lie was 
induced to accept a position, then vacant, in the office of the Spring- 
field ncpullican. Here, associated with Siiniuol Bowles, he entered 

301 



2 JOSIAH G. HOLLAND. 

upon his first hard work as editor. The earlier years of this con- 
nection were years of sev^ere labor, the two young men doing the 
entire editorial work of the establishment. 

Two years after entering the office he became joint proprietor, 
and continued his interest in the business throughout the entire pe- 
riod which was occupied in raising tlie concern to its present mag- 
nitude and prosperity. In 1866 Dr. Holland withdrew from the 
management. Besides his editorial writings and occasional contri- 
Sutions to prominent magazines and other periodicals, he has given 
to the world several volumes of superior merit. His first book was 
"The History of Western Massachusetts," written for his paper, and 
subsequently published in two volumes. This work has much local 
value, and involved an incredible amount of drudgery. Then fol- 
lowed a novel, also written for the paper, and afterward published 
by Putnam, entitled " The Bay Path." Subsequently he produced 
" Bitter Sweet," a poem which has been generally admired ; " The 
Titcomb Letters," an exceedingly pleasant volume ; " Gold Foil," 
a series of essays ; " Miss Gilbert's Career," a novel ; " Lessons of 
Life ; " " Letters to the Joneses ; " " Plain Talks on Familiar Sub- 
jects; " and " Kathrina," a poem of unusual sweetness. 

All Dr. Holland's writings have been received with general favor — 
their refined, didactic, yet humorous character being nicely adapted 
to the taste of educated American society. Of '' Kathrina " the 
publishers sold 40,000 copies during the first six months — an extra- 
ordinary sale for an American volume of poetry. The followinof 
extracts will give our readers who have not seen the work some 
idea of its character. In Part II., where Kathrina is seen confess- 
ing her faith and receiving the sacrament of baptism, it reads : — 

"AH this scene 
I saw tliroiigh blinding tears. The poetry 
That hke a soft aureola embraced 
"Within its scope those two contrasted forms; 
The eager observation and the hush 
That reigned through all the house ; the breathless spell 
Of sweet solemnity and tender awe 
Which held all hearts when she, Th.e Beautiful, 

302 



JOSIAH G. HOLLAND. 3 

Received the sign of marriage to The Good, 
O'ervviielmed me, and I wept. Shall I confess 
That in the strug^jle to repress my tears 
And hold my swelling heart. I grudged her gift, 
And felt tliat, by the measure she had risen, 
She had put space between herself and me, 
And ciuouched my liope." 

In Part 111, we read : — 

'"Strange, how a man may carry in his heart, 
From year to year, — through all his life, indeed,— 
A truth, or a conviction which shall be 
No more a part of it, and no more worth 
Than to his iiask the cork that slips within 1 
Of this he learns by sournes.s of his wine, 
Or muddle of its color ; by the bits 
That vex his lip wliile drinking; but he feels 
No impulse in his hand to draw it forth, 
And bid it crown and keep the draught it spoils." 

The poem thus abounds in richly molded gems of sentiment and 
philosophy. 

Dr. Holland married, at twenty-six, Elizabeth L. Chapin, of 
Springfield — the Elizabeth to whom he dedicates "Kathrina" — 
has three children, two daughters just entering upon womanhood, 
and a son who is but a boy. His residence, known in the Connec- 
ticut Valley as Brightwood, is located among the trees, a mile and 
alialfnorth of the Springfield Eailroad depot, and overlooks the 
river and the meadows. Here the summer finds Jiim and holds 
him ; but the winter calls him to all parts of the conntiy as a lec- 
turer. He has now (June, 1S70), with his family, just returned 
from a residence of two years in Europe. 

Dr. Holland has a very finely organized body and brain. He is 
not large or heavily built, but of good size, well-proportioned, above 
the medium height, and as litlie and springy as a race-horse. His 
M'ho]e perso'n7iel' gives the appearance of a clear thinker, a sharp 
o})server, a man of intense feeling, quickness, ease, and accuracy of 
nujtion, and one whose thoughts, sentiments, and susceptibilities are 
fine and high toned. His features are prominent and well defined, 

303 



4 JOSIAH G. nOLLxiND. 

indicating positiveness of cliaracter, quickness of perception, inten- 
sity of thought and emotion, and a practical, wide-awake intellect. 

His Lrain, of the same quality, of course, as his body, works 
easily and rapidly ; sometimes, perhaps, too intensely for health and 
endurance ; but for a man of his susceptibility, he is rather remark- 
able for toughness and endurance. 

The lower part of his forehead is particularly sharp and jjronn 
nent, the perceptive organs, as a whole, being large. That square 
ness at the outer angle of the eyebrow evinces precision, method, 
system. That sharp ridge running up from the root of the nose to 
the hair, indicates memory of facts, power of analysis, criticism, dis- 
crimination, and, joined with his large language, the power of 
description. He has a prominent development of the quality that 
reads human character; not only the ability to judge of character 
at sight, to form an impression favorable or adverse to the person 
whom he meets, but the power to enter into the intricacies and 
sympathies of human nature, and to describe such characteristics as 
he perceives in persons, or conceives to be possible, through his own 
consciousness; hence his graphic pictures of disposition and of 
thought are remarkable. 

The central line of the head from the root of the nose over the 
top to the back of the head is high and prominent, indicating the 
qualities we have named, and also sympathy for suffering, rever- 
ence for truth, goodness, and greatness ; self-reliance, determination, 
will-power, independence, positiveness, and self-esteem, or the love 
of individual liberty and power. He loves children, and home, and 
woman. Has a passionate friendship, which enables him to win 
associates and hold them for life. He has a quick, polished imagi- 
nation ; but he does not allow it to cut loose from practical life, or 
from the realm of common sense, which tends to regulate and guide 
it. His imagination is not like a balloon that goes careering 
whithersoever it will. It is more like a steamer, obeying the will 
of the pilot; or like a locomotive, which is governed by definite 
laws and regulated by the will of its engineer. 

804 



JOSIAH G. HOLLAND. 



There is in tLis organization a great deal of the historical and 
the descriptive, something of the didactic, and considerable of the 
metapliysical blended with the imaginative, sjmpathetical, and 
practical. He can write for common -sense people ; is able to 
reach the realm of their everv-day life, and of their common sym- 
])athies ; and tlirongh tliese qualities to lead them np as they are 
able to go with him. In his writings, and especially in liis lectiiret^, 
there is a point-blank earnestness, vividness, and brilliancy whicli 
enabk^s him to please while he instructs. His early life was a 
struggle with poverty, and like all such struggles on the part of 
men of genius, it was marked with many and peculiar changes. 
His later years have been abundant with the fruitage of successes 
bravely and meritoriously won. 

20 306 



KEY. SAMUEL D. BUROHAED, D. D. 

BY REV. W. A. MASKER. 

"^mIj^'HE subject of tliis article is of New England origin. His 
r^^M parents, after the birth of twelve children, removed to the 
town of Steuben, Oneida Count}-, in the State of New 
York, where they purchased the Baron Steuben farm, upon which 
he had lived and died, and where his honored remains now lie. 
Here, in 1812, Samuel D. Burchard was born. From the cir- 
cumstances of his nirth and boyhood, his career is associated 
vv'ith patriotic, and in some respects romantic, recollections. 
In the town there were living many natives of Wales, and in 
his association with them he early acquired their language, which 
he spoke with ease and fluency, and he has not entirely for- 
gotten it. His parents were godly people, who could not suffer 
their offspring to grow up in ignorance of the great truths which 
they believed. His early training, therefore, was religious, and the 
result of it is apparent in his entire character. There is nothing 
very remarkable in the history of his youth, beyond the fact that 
lie was of an exceedingly delicate physical organization, and greatly 
afflicted with asthma. In the ordinary sense of the term he had 
no boyhood, but ^eemed to pass by a single step from childliood to 
maturity. In his earliest years he was meditative and studious, 
and his future life was mirrored by its beginning. In those days 
the idea prevailed that the feeble and delicate one of the family 
must become the student, while the strong ones must work. 
Whatever results may follow in exceptional cases, the theory is 
entirely wrong. As a rule it is useless to expect much intellectual 
power and development in a greatly enfeebled body. There may 
be a good beginning, with promise of unoornded success; but in 

607 



2 SAMUEL D. BURCHAIID, D. D. 

ordinary cases the frail tenement will perisli under the pressure of 
arduous and long-continued mental toil. Dr. Burchard has been a 
notable exception. lie made an eiirly profession of religion and 
united with the Presbyterian Church. Developing physically and 
mentally, at the age of sixteen he assumed charge of a large 
country district-school, which he taught with success. At the age 
of seventeen an incident occurred to give shape to his whole 
character, as often the apparently least important circumstance will 
decide a man's entire future. He had given up teaching, and was 
studying the languages preparatory to entering college; and while 
returning from one of his recitations was overtaken by a wagoner, 
who, perceiving his infirmity, said in a generous and playful tone : 
" Young man, you seem to have the heaves very badly." 
" I have," was the answer. 

" Well, get up into my wagon and ride with me," returned the 
good-natured countryman; which invitation being accepted, the 
teamster added : 

" They say that a horse with the heaves can be cured by sending 
him beyond the Alleghanies, and I don't see why it will not have 
the same eflect on a wheezing man," 

This simple event decided the future of the youth. lEe adopted 
the suggestion, and in less than three weeks, with letters of commen- 
dation in his pocket, was on his way to Lexington, at that time a 
great journey ; and upon his arrival was received with genuine 
Kentucky hospitality by the leading men of the place. He mingled 
freely with the people, and in a short time was well known as a young 
man of more than ordinary ability. The Right Rev. Bishop Smith, 
appreciating his talent and genius, sought his acquaintance and 
urged him to become identified with the Protestant Episcopal 
church, offering him the highest inducements ; but he preferred to 
remain loyal to the Presbyterian church. His two-fold idea in 
going to that State was to teach and regain his health ; but the 
Rev. Dr. I^athan Hall, Mdio had become acquainted with him and 
had heard him address religious assemblaijes in lansruaffe full of 

308 



S A M U E L D . B U R C II A E, D , D . D . 3 

peculiar power and eloquence, said to him that liis proper sphere 
was in the pulpit — a conviction long entertained by himself — and, 
as he was quite frail in constitution and there seemed to be but little 
hope of liis living beyond a few years, advised liini to take a partial 
course of study, that he might have the more time to spend in his 
supposed short work in the ministry. At the suggestion of this 
good Christian friend he went to Danville and entered Centre 
College, determined, however, to pursue a full course, and during 
the first year supported himself by his own hands. He continued 
his public speaking, and friends flocked around him, attracted by 
his fervid eloquence. 

About the end of his first college year he was invited to the home 
of the Rev. Dr. J. D. Paxton, then pastor of the Pres'byterian 
church at Danville, where he remained as a guest and friend of the 
family until the appearance of the first cholera in 1832, which 
swept with desolating effect over the entire town, suspending the 
operations of the college, sending the students to their varied and 
distant homes, and numbering among its victims Mrs. Paxton, who 
had been everything to the young and devoted student that a 
mother and friend could be. This was a sad blow to him, and 
after the lapse of all the intervening years, he now never speaks of 
her but with the tenderest emotions. True to his convictions of 
duty and fearless of danger, he declined to leave, but remained, 
nursing the sick, administering medicine, speaking words of Chris- 
tian cheer in the ears of the dying, shrouding their bodies for 
burial, and following, unattended by friend or mourner, their remains 
to the hastily-prepared grave. It could not be otherwise than that 
he should find a place in every heart. After this terrible scene of 
suft'ering on the one hand, and patient self- denial and fidelity on 
the other, the enthusiastic expressions of gratitude on the part of 
the people were unbounded, and they vied with each other for the 
privilege of giving him a home ; and out of the numerous ofi'ers he 
accepted one with Mr. and Mrs. Youce, where he remained until 
leaving the State, being ev3r treated by them as their own child. 

309 



4 SAMUELD.BURCHARD, D.D. 

His reputation extended far and wide, and in almost every town in 
Kentucky he addressed vast audiences on the subject of religion, tem- 
perance, and human rights, and was everywhere received with the 
greatest enthusiasm. On one occasion several thousand people had 
assembled to hear him speak, his tlieme being temperance ; 1>ut lie 
found himself suffering so much from an attack of his old malady 
as to be unable apparently to say a word beyond making an apology ; 
and rising to do this, the appearance of the immense concourse 
seemed to give him relief, and he proceeded, and spoke for three 
hours, making one of the best addresses of his life. 

As an evidence of the people's regard for him, it may here be 
stated, that, after an absence of ten years, he returned to the State 
in comp'any with his wife to spend a few weeks, and his welconje 
everywhere was a perfect ovation. Old men and women gathered 
around him and with glistening eyes referred to his early career in 
their midst, and those who had grown to maturity since his depar- 
ture also came to pay their respects to one w^liose name was familiar 
in every household. In no place was he permitted to spend a far- 
thing for his own entertainment or for that of his friends who 
accompanied him. Among the prominent men who welcomed him 
were Governor Letcher ; Henry Clay, who always recognized their 
acquaintance, wlien visidng the East, by acts and expressions of 
kindness; Chief Justice Robinson, a man of splendid ability; 
Leslie Coombs ; Goovernor Magoffin, a college-mate, and John C. 
Breckinridge, another, with whom he had the closest friendship. 
Besides this, all through his college course, after the first year, he 
was literally overwhelmed with presents of clothing, mone}', and 
tokens of kindness from known and u7)known donors, so that he 
not only had sufficient for himself, but out of his surplus supported 
and paid the expenses of a young man in college with him through 
his entire coarse, and until his settlement in the ministry. 

About the close of his junior ^-ear the trustees conceived the idea 
of sending one of their students to the East, for the purpose of 
securing a full or partial :ndowment for the college ; and tlie Doc- 

310 



SAMUEL D. BURCH A RD, D.D. 5 

tor, having already given so manv distiriguislied evidences of aLilitj, 
was deemed the most appropriate person for the undertaking, and 
received the appointment ; and in this mission was pre-eminently 
successful in bringing large resources to the institution, in greatly 
increasing its library, and in making himself widely and favorably 
known. After his return he received calls to some of the most 
prominent churches in different parts of the country, all of wliicli 
be declined, preferring to pass the reguhir curriculum of collegiate 
and theological studies. lie graduated with the highest honors, 
studied theology for two years with some of his fellow-graduates, 
thus constituting the germ of what has since developed into the 
Danville Theological Seminary ; was then licensed to preach by 
tlie Transylvania Presbytery in 1S38, and received a call to the 
Houston Street Presbj-terian Church of ISTew York City, which call 
he declined, designing to spend one year in Princeton Theological 
Seminary. He was overruled in this design by inducements to 
study in Union Seminary, then in its infancy, and during his attend- 
ance at that institution supplied the pulpit of the church to which 
he had been called. This, without his intention and against all 
his previous predilections and pi-eferences for the West, resulted in 
his settlement in the city of !New York. He commenced liis labors 
in the autumn of 1838, the church being heavily laden with debt, 
its members being widely scattered, and divided in sympathy by 
reason of local causes, so that at the beginning the usual number 
of attendants would not exceed one hundred. In the course of a 
few months there were manifest tokens of the divine presence, the 
congregation increased, the house was crowded Sabbath after Sab- 
bath, and the unanimous voice was that the Doctor must become 
the permanent pastor or the church would disband. As he had 
been the instrumental cause, under Providence, of awakening this 
new life in a dormant enterprise, he was constrained, under the 
pressure of circumstances, to be ordained, and was installed pastor on 
the first day of May, 1839, and the connection proved most happy 
and successful. The church became united, and there were added 

311 



6 SAMUEL D. BURCHARD, D. D. 

to it, on profession of faitli alone, over eight hundred members 
during tlie seven years that Le ministered in that place. At the 
end of that time the church deemed it expedient to change their 
locality. Although this was their unanimous voice, the Presbytery 
intervened and decided that it would be unwise totally to abandon 
an enterprise which had been so successful in its previous history, 
and letters of dismission were granted to such as cliose to go 
out as a colony, one hundred and eighty, together with the pastoi', 
\eing organized into a new church, while the old one was supported 
in part by the Presbytery for a few years, when it was disbanded. 
Without the assistance which the colonists would have derived from 
the sale of the old property, a site was immediately procured, and 
an edifice costing thirty thousand dollars erected in Thirteenth 
Street, where the present building stands. Here the people wor- 
shipped, and the pastor's ministrations were successful, while the 
church debt was reduced to seven thousand dollars. Early in 1855 
the edifice was entirely consumed by fire, together with the Doctor's 
valuable library, which he had spent years in gathering; but such 
was the s])irit of the people, as acquired under his training, 
that while the fire was still raging»a resolution was taken to rebuild 
the church in a more beautiful and substantial manner than before, 
and this was accordingly done; and by the first of May, 1864, the 
debt, which had increased to twenty-two thousand dollars, was 
entirely removed. It is safe to say that no church in the city has 
ever been more blest. Many precious revivals of religion have 
occurred, during one of which, in 1858-9, three hundred members 
were added ; and during his ministry with this one people. Dr. 
Burchard has had the privilege of receiving over twenty-seven hun- 
dred members, more than fifteen hundred of wdiom being on the 
profession of their faith. He has many times received calls to 
leading churches, but no inducement would be sufficient to draw 
him away froni his beloved and loving people. 

During the year 1853, the formation of an internal abscess entirely 
prostrated him and threatened his life. The leading surgeons of 

312 



SAMUEL D. BURCHARD, D. D. 7 

the country being consulted, were nnaninious in tlie opinion that 
there was scarcely a hope of his recovery, as notliing but a most 
difficult and painful operation could save him, with even doubts as 
to his being able to survive that ordeal. Dr. Lewis A. Sayre, his 
warm personal friend, a most skillful and accomplished surgeon, 
undertook the case, Dr. Burchard having previously settled his 
worldly affairs and composed his mind for the emergency. After 
the fearful operation had proceeded for some time, the pulse of the 
patient ceased, and the surgeons in attendance pronounced life 
extinct. Mrs. Burchard, who was present, insisted, however, that 
her husband still lived, and, notwithstanding the repeated declara- 
tion that there was no hope, means were used to restore animation. 
What professional skill failed to do was done by the liopeful, Avatch- 
ful, and loving wife. She first discovered a faint flush on his cheek, 
and after a short time consciousness was restored. The operation 
was continued at intervals of a week, and successfully accomplished, 
so that in six months the Doctor was able to resume his pastoral 
duties. Both in Europe and in this country the case attracted 
much attention among the profession, and was considered one of 
the most remarkable on record. In token of appreciation of his 
services in jjerforming the operation, a number of Dr. Burchard's 
parishioners and friends presented to Dr. Sayre a magnificent silver 
pitcher and salver, upon the acceptance of which he MTote one of 
the most touching letters ever penned, and paid therein a beautiful 
tribute to the man whose life he had by his skill been made instru- 
mental in saving. 

Dr. Burchard has twice visited Europe, the first occasion being 
before he had entirely recovered from the effects of the operation 
just mentioned, immediately after the burning and during the 
rebuilding of his church ; the last time, accompanied by his wife, 
being in 1869, when he had become worn down by excessive minis- 
terial labor. Both times he was sent by his people, his salary being 
continued and a liberal purse being given to defray his expenses. 
In his own words, he has been " caned, watched, and twice banished " 

313 



g SAMUEL D. BURCHARD, D. D. 

b_y his flock, lie is a passionate lover of the fine arts, and, in his 
visits to the different galleries of the old world, viewed and studied, 
with an appreciation possessed by i'ew, the works of the great mas- 
ters, and he can readily distinguisli, with the skill of a master him- 
self, between the false and the genuine, lie has devoted his time 
■and talents mainly to his people, but has written quite largely for 
magazines and literary journals. Two volumes bear his name, 
^' The Laurel Wreath," published in 1S40, and " The Daughters of 
Zion," a handsome volume i&sucd in 1853 and republished in Eng- 
land. From Madison University, a Baptist institution, he unex- 
pectedly received his degree of D, D. wliilc cpilte young in the 
ministry. His reputation had preceded him to Europe ; and so 
striking and commanding is his personal appearance, that on his 
recent visit there he was singled out in an audience of four thou- 
sand persons, by Mr. Spurgeon, who had heard that he was in 
London and expected to be present that morning, in the parlors of 
whose church a warm welcome awaited him after the close of the 
service. He is chancellor of Ingham University, at Leroy, New 
York, and attends its Commencement annually without compensa- 
tion. Although not personally supervising its labors through the 
year, he takes a d^ep interest in its welfare, and contributes largely 
to its success by his advice and counsel. He is also connected 
with the New York Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, besides 
having a membership on the boards of many charitable and religious 
societies. 

The following extract, from the fii-st sermon preached by him 
after recovering from his great ilhiess, will give some idea of his 
affectionate style in addressing his people, and of the ties by which 
he feels bound to them : — 

" Oh I my brethren, it was everything to me when your sympathies were manifested 
in my recent affliction. Had you stood aloof in my terrible trial — had you left me 
without an expression of affection, I could not have survived. But nobly did you 
stand by your sick and suffering pastor; with importunate supplications did you be- 
siege the throne of grace. True, you could not all be at my bedside, but your sym- 
pathies were there, and they were a sweet solace during all those weary mouths of 

314 



SAMUEL D. BURCllARD, D.D, 9 

pain and laiiguipliment. There was no weariness nor flagging on your part; from Ihe 
beginning to the end, I had the fullest assurance of love and confidence in your nightly 
watchings, in your prayers. To say, ray beloved people, that I ihauk you for all this, 
is language too tame to express the grateful and swelling emotions of my heart. I 
more than thank you — my redeemed life is yours, pledged to be spent in your service, 
to do you good — to add to your moral patrimony in the kingdom of God. Will you 
accept the oaering? I lay it freely at this altar — it is yours ; my time, influence, 
talent, all, I desire to spend for your sake, tliat the Master may be honored, and 
3'ou saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. I need not say I am bound to you by new 
ties of attachment. You have tested and proved yourselves worthy. . . When the 
hand of disease was laid heavily upon me, when the house of my earthly tabernaclo 
seemed ready to dissolve, impenitent men of this congregation stood willing to make 
any sacrifice, if they could but save me from a teirqjoral death; and can I be less mag- 
nanimous and devoted in labors abundant to save them from an eternal? No, I «'j/i 
not, I can not I will be j'our best friend, guarding your best interests with vestal 
hdelity." , 

Dr. Burcliard is a thorough scholar. He is a perfect master of 
the Greek, for wliich he has always had a passion. He is a close 
reasoiier, logical in argnment and sound in judgment, rarely being 
deceived in his estimate of men, but never harshly judging any, 
preferring rather to extend the cloak of Christian charity than to 
needlessly wound or injure. This element in his character has been 
the means of much good. He readily attaches himself to those 
who are associated with him, and men of all denominations cheer- 
fully recognize his ability and sincerity, as well as the qualities of 
mind and heart that have ever endeared him to all coming within 
tlie circle of his influence. From the stripling of sixteen he has 
developed into a finely-formed, well-proportioned man, over six feet 
in height. His features are regular, and his countenance gives 
evidence of great thought and penetration. In the choice of a com- 
panion he was exceedingly fortunate, possessing a wife in every 
way suitable for a minister whose parishioners have been numbered 
by thousands. Five sons have been given to them, four of whom 
are living. In the world, the church, and the family, his life has 
been a constant benediction. Few men live who possess more de- 
voted friends, and none who can more truly say that they are without 
an enemy.. A complaint never passed his lips. lie has not sought 
popularity, but rather avoided it. His style of preaching is clear, 

315 



IQ SAMUEL D. BURC HARD, D.D. 

logical, forcible, and eloquent, and be could never be tempted to 
introduce the sensational, which is usually pleasing to the irreligious 
church-goer. 

Tlie reasons for his success are obvious. Is'aturally gifted, he 
has never neglected an opportunity of adding to his store. He has 
learned lessons where others would have found but riddles. His 
ear has been open to every call, and his sympathies have never been 
withheld. He has been thoroughly devoted to his work, and has 
nerer enjoyed personal ease or comfort to the detriment of the 
people of his charge. iS^ever censorious, he has adhered rigidly to 
all the cardinal doctrines of his faith. Above all, his sincere piety 
has made him a loving and successful worker in the vineyard of 
the Master. He is ever calm, hopeful, reliant, willing and anxious 
to work, desirous of being found with his whole armor on until the 
end of the conflict. There is no sign of decay, no weakening of 
his faculties ; and many souls may yet be saved, through his labors 
and prayers, to shine as stars in his crown of glory and rejoicing. 

316 



J. S. NEWBERRY. 



f IPKOFESSOR J. S. DEWBERRY, M. D., LL. D., was born 

JCT^ at Windsor, Connecticut, of old Puritan stock, his 

"^^^ ancestors liavin*:; formed part of the colony which, in 1635, 

emigrated from Dorchester, Colony of Massachusetts Bay, and 

founded the town of AVindsor, the tirst settlement in Connecticut. 

The family continued to reside in Windsor for two hundred 
years, during which time it held an honorable place in that com- 
munity, and contributed several representatives, who took an im- 
portant; part in the affairs of the State government, or in the defense 
of the colony against the Indians, and in the French and Indian, 
and Revolutionary wars. Dr. ISTewberry's grandfather, Hon. 
Roger Newberry, a distinguished lawyer, and for many years a 
member of the governor's council, was one of the directors of the 
Connecticut Land Company, which purchased a large part of the 
Connecticut Western Reserve. His son, Henrj^ Newberry, inher- 
ited his interest in the land of the company, by which he became 
possessed of large tracts in various portions of northern Ohio. 
Looking after these interests, he made three journeys on horseback 
(the first in ISl-i) from Connecticut to Ohio, and, in 1824, removed 
his family to Summit County, where he founded the town of Cuya- 
lioga Falls, remaining there until his death in 185-1. 

Dr. Newberry graduated at Western Reserve College in 1846, 
and from the Cleveland Medical College in 1848. The years 1849 
and 1850 he spent in study and travel abroad. Returning at the 
close of the latter year, he established himself, early in 1851, in 
the practice of medicine in Cleveland. Here he remained until 
1855, when his professional business became so engrossing as to 

317 



2 J. S. NEWBERRY. 

leave him no time for the scientific study to which he had been 
devoted from his boyhood. To escape from too great professional 
occupation, and impelled by an unconquerable passion for a scien- 
tific career, in May, 1855, he accepted an appointment from the 
War Department, and became connected with the army as acting 
assistant surgeon and geologist to the party which, under Lieuten- 
ant R.. S. Williamson, U. S. A,, made an exploration of the country 
lying between San Francisco and the Columbia River. The 
results of the expedition are embodied in volume YL, F. R. R. Re- 
ports. The reports of Dr. Newberry on the " Geology, Botany, 
and Zoology of North California and Oregon " are published in a 
volume of three hundred pages, quarto, with forty-eight plates. 
In 1857-8 he accompanied Lieutenant J. C. Ives, U. S. A., in the 
exploration and navigation of the Colorado River, one of the 
most interesting explorations made by any party in any country. 
The object of the expedition was to open a navigable route of 
communication with our army in Utah. To this end an iron 
steamer was constructed in Fhiladelphia, taken in sections to the 
head of the Gulf of California, where it was put together and 
launched. With this steamer, the river, before almost entirely 
unknown, was navigated for five hundred miles, opening a route 
of travel which has since been extensively used. Beyond the point 
reached by the steamer, the course of the river is for several hundreds 
of miles through the "Great Canon," as it is called, a chasm worn 
by the stream in the table-lands of the "Colorado Plateau." This 
canon has nearly vertical banks, and is nowhere less than three 
thousand feet deep, in some places six thousand feet, or more than 
a mile, in depth. 

The party with which Dr. Newberry was connected spent nearly 
a year in exploring the country bordering the Colorado, adding 
much to our knowledge of our western possessions, and giving, in 
their report, an interesting and graphic desci'iption of perhaps the 
most remarkable portion of the earth's surface. Half of the report 
of the Colorado expedition was prepared by Dr. Newberry, and so 

318 



J. S. NEWBERRY. g 

rnncli importance was attached to his observations by his command- 
ing officer, that in the preface he speaks of tlieni as constituting 
** the most interesting material gathered by the expedition." 

In 1859, liaving finished his portion of the Colorado report. Dr. 
Newberry toolc charge of another party sent out by the War De- 
partment, to report to Captain J. N. Macomb, Topographical En- 
gineer, U. S. A,, for the exploration of the San Juan and upper 
Colorado rivers. The summer of 1859 was spent in the accom- 
plishment of the object Iiad in view by this expedition, during 
which time the party traveled over a large part of southern Colo- 
rado, Utah, northern Arizona, and iSTew Mexico, filling up a wide 
space on our maps, and opening a great area before unknown, much 
of which proved rich and beautiful, abounding in mineral Avealtli, 
and full of natural objects of great interest. Among the results 
of this expedition were the determination of the point of junction 
of Grand and Green rivers, which unite to form the Colorado ; the 
exploration of the valley of the San Juan, the largest tributary of 
the Colorado, a stream as large as the Connecticut, before almost 
unknown, but wliich, though now without an inhabitant upon its 
banks, is for several hundred miles lined witli ruined towns or 
detached edifices built of stone, and once occupied by many thou- 
sands of semi-civilized people. The report of this expedition, 
made by Dr. N^ewberry, containing much new and interesting 
scientific matter, was finished just before the war, but yet remains 
unpublished. 

Immediately after the commencement of the war, the United 
States Sanitary Commission was organized. Dr. Newberry was 
one of the first elected members, and it is, perhaps, not too much to 
say, that no other one individual contributed more to the great suc- 
cess that attended the labors of that organization. In September, 
1861, he accepted the position of Secretary of the Western Depart- 
ment of the Sanitary Commission, and from that time had the general 
supervision of the afi'airs of the Commission in the valley of the 
Mississippi ; his head-quarters being first at Cleveland, and subse- 

319 



4 J. S. NEWBERRT. 

queiitlj, as the frontier was carried southward, at Louisville, 
Kentucky. 

Througli liis efforts, brandies of the Sanitary Commission were 
established in the principal cities of the "West, and agencies for the 
production and distribution of supplies, and the care of sick and 
wounded on the battle-field, in hospital, or in transitu. The mag- 
nitude of the work of the Sanitary Commission at the West may 
be inferred from tlie fact that there were at one time over five 
thousand societies tributary to it in the loyal States of the North- 
west; that hospital stores of the value of over $5,000,000 were 
distributed by it in the valley of the Mississippi ; that over 850,000 
names were on the records of its Hospital Directory at Louisville, 
and 1,000,000 soldiers, for whom no other adequate provision was 
made, wei'e fed and sheltered in its " Homes." 

Of this great work Dr. I^Tewberry was the responsible head, and 
to the wisdom and energy displayed by him very much of the 
harmony and efficiency which characterized this organization is 
to be ascribed. 

As his labors with the Sanitary Commission were drawing to a 
close. Dr. Newberry was appointed Professor of Geology, in the 
School of Mines of Columbia College, New York City. He 
entered on the duties of the position in 1S66. Li 1869 he was ap- 
pointed by Governor Hayes to the ofiice of State Geologist, created 
by the Ohio General Assembly of that year. 

The scientific accquirements of Professor Newberry have given 
him a world-wide fame. As a geologist, his reputation ranks 
among the foremost. Pie has been honored with the membership 
of most of the learned societies of this country, and of many in 
Europe; was one of the original corporators of the National 
Academy of Sciences; was recently elected President of the Ameri- 
can Association for the Advancement of Science, and is now Presi- 
dent of the New York Lycenm of Natural History. 

320 




WILLIAM I. PEAKE. 

^ ■ LTHOUGH there is no titled nobility in this countr y 
yet no sooner does one rise to a conspicuous position than 
'^^1^^ the question h asked, "Who is he? Where did he come 
from ? What are his antecedents ? The feeling which prompts 
these questions seems inherent in our nature, and therefore we 
answer them. 

The Peakes are of English descent, and the family can be 
traced back as far as 1284, to the reign of Edward I., and the 
conquest of Wales. In 1598, in the reign of Elizabeth, we find 
the grant of their coat of arms. Sir Robert Peake was with 
Charles I. in the battle of ISTaseby, and Major Thomas Peake 
in the cavalry service with Prince Rupert, nephew of the King. 
We find Sir William Peake Lord Mayor of London in 1668, and 
Sir John Peake filling that office in 1667. Though staunch loyal- 
ists and churchmen, they doubted the right of the king to rule 
in church as well as state, and becoming disgusted with the revo- 
lution, the younger members of the family began to emigrate to 
America. 

Just before the French War In this country two brothers came 
out — one settled in the " i^orthern Neck," in Virginia, and the 
other in Woodstock, Conn. The Virginian was with Washington 
in Braddock's defeat, and continued with him all through the 
Revoludon. The other, John Peake, went from Woodstock to 
Walpolc, New Uampshire, before a grant of the town was ob- 
tained, with a view of occupying the meadow lands which the 
Indians had left. After his arrival he learned that the French 
war had begun. Trumbull, in his Elistory of the Indian Wars, 
21 321 



2 WILIilAM I. PEAKE. 

speaks of tlie defence of a block house bj John Peake and s(3veral 
others of the settlement against a force of 200 Indians, as " one 
of the most heroic and successful efforts of personal courage and 
valor recorded in the annals of Indian warlare." In this war he 
lost liis life. His son, the grandfather of William I. Peake, en- 
tered the American army, was present at the capture of Burgojne, 
and after peace was declared, settled in Chatham, Columbia 
County, New York. 

In searching the annals of the family in this country, we find 
no member of it occupying an enviable niche in the political 
world; to use the words of an old Yirginian of the family: "I 
have followed the name wherever it could be traced, and I have 
yet to find the first instance of crime charged against it, or an 
arraignment in a com't of justice for violation of law. I have 
never known one ambitious of political fame, tyrannical, mean, 
or cowardly — none who ever lived by his wits. Only one office 
holder, Humphrey Peake, who was appointed Collector of Alex- 
andria by Gen. Washington, and. who held the office until the 
time of President Jackson. I think the great merit of which 
the family may honestly boast, is attending to their own afiairs, 
and demanding that everybody else attend to theirs." 

William I. Peake, the fifth of a family of twelve children, was 
born May 2d, 1817, in Ghent, Columbia County, N. Y., shortly 
after the removal of his father from Chatham. His father was a 
farmer, who brought up his children in habits of industry, to owe 
no man any thing, and to be scrupulously honest. His grand- 
father might have left more money to his children had he pre- 
sented his claim to bounty lands and pensions; bat when asked 
why he did not, replied: 'I am satisfied with my farm, and 
cannot understand why a man should be paid for doing his duty 
to his country any more than to his neighbor." 

William was always industrious, and when he was not in school, 
if he had not work enough at home, looked for it elsewhere. 
One v/inter he worked m a woolen factory near his home. At 

322 



WILLIAM I. PEAKE. 3 

another time lie cut cord-wood for a neiglibor before and after 
school hours, at fifty cents a cord, and earned enough to buy him 
a suit of clothes. Mr. Samuel Plumb, the wealthiest merchant 
in Hudson, N. Y., and doing the most business in the place, on a 
visit with his wife to Mr. Pcake's father, and knowing the honesty 
and industry of William, said he must have that boy in his store. 

Accordingly an agreement was made, and William, then in his 
sixteenth year, entered his employment. He was to have his 
board and twenty-five dollars the first year, and ten dollars more 
each succeeding year until he was twenty-one, when he was to 
have one hundred dollars. With this salary he clothed himself, 
and had a small sum left at the end of each year. 

A characteristic incident may here be mentioned. As it was 
the shortest way from his home to the store, he was permitted 
to go through Mr. Plumb's nursery. The finest fruit and the 
most delicious peaches lay on the ground all along his path, but 
he never touched it. At length, one morning, Mr. Plumb, who, 
in all probability, had watched him every time he passed, threw 
open the blinds overlcoking the path, and said : ''William, thee 
can take and eat as much fruit as thee likes on thy way through 
the garden." 

He was never known to run away from any one but once, and 
that was one evening returning from church. (He is a communi- 
cant of the Episcopal Church.) He was invited to walk in and 
congratulate an old bachelor, who iad just been married ; declin- 
ing the invitation, they seized and pulled him in, determining to 
make him drink. Watching his opportunity, he started out of 
the back door, jumped the fence, and ran for home, where he 
stayed all niglit. They gave chase, but unable to overtake him, 
they turned back, and as they told him afterwards, knowing that 
he slept at the store, watched for him at the corner until midnight. 

In 1839, he went into business with Thomas J. Weir, in Hudson, 
and at the end of three years they dissolved partnership, and he 
continued the business alone until 184:3, when he removed to 

323 



4 WILLIAM I. PEAKE. 

Chatham Four Coniers. There was only one store at that time 
ill the place besides his ; but within three years there were five, 
and as a sixth was to be opened, he sold out his to this last one, 
and made the tour of the northwestern States on business for 
several x^ew York parties. It was during this trip that he re- 
solved to make the city of New York his home. 

In 1850, he obtained a situation with Messrs. Chittenden, Bliss 
& Co. as salesman, at a salary of $500 per annum. "When this 
firm dissolved and a new one formed, known as Geo. Bliss & Co.'* 
he went with the new firm. His integrity made him keep the 
interests of his employers constantly in view, and devote himself to 
the advancement of the house as much as if he had been at the 
head of it himself. The result was, he was ofiered a partnership, 
and accepted it. 

This was the epoch in his life, which led to fortune. Upright- 
ness, sobriety and industry, combined with skill and knowledge of 
his business, were the leading traits of his character. After twelve 
years, he withdrew from this firm, at his own request, a wealthy 
and respected merchant. 

Kind, obliging, faithful and generous, his private life bears as 
fair a record as his public. Too active to retire from business, he 
formed the house of William I. Peake & Co., in 1866 (now Peakc, 
Opdycke & Co.), which stands among the great importing and 
jobbing dry goods houses of America. 

His success is not surprising to those who know him well, for be 
is one of the most upright, energetic, and at the same time conser- 
vative merchants on Manhattan Island. He is early and late at 
his post, .exercising a close, personal supervision over every depart- 
ment of his large establishment. 

By his affable manners, he gains the good will of all his numer- 
ous employees, as well as of his customers, who are found in every 
state in tlie Union, and in every territory except two. 

Few men, in the dry goods trade of Kew York, fire more widely 
known, or more highly esteemed than William I. Peake. 

324 



JACOB YANDEEPOEL. 




'HIS prominent citizen of Xew York was born on tlie 19th 
^^^4 day of June, 1812, in tlie Fourth Ward. He is descended 
from one of the oldest Knickerbocker famib'es. His par- 
ents, however, were in humble circumstances pecuniarih', and hence 
his early education was extremely limited. He was apprenticed at 
an early age to John Budd, a cabinet-maker, on Fulton Street, near 
the old North Dutch Church, who proved to be a severe master ; and 
before the termination of the indentures, and at the ?.ge of twenty 
years, young Yanderpoel succeeded in purchasing the remainder of 
his time, and from that time tried the world for good or ill on his 
own account. Endowed by nature with strong common sense and 
a keen perception, the years of his apprenticeship had not been 
thrown away ; and from observation his mind had become some- 
what mature and capable of grappling with the real business 
transactions of life. In 1832, during the prevalence of the cholera 
in New York, a circumstance occurred which accidentally shaped 
the future of the subject of this sketch. 

A sale, at auction, of mahogany came off; and owing to the 
absence from the city of the wealthy dealers in the article, on 
account of the pestilence, he was enabled to make quite a lai-ge 
purchase for a very small sum. From this purchase, which he 
paid for with borrowed capital, he realized more than twenty- 
fold profit. This success led to other purchases of the same 
article with similar results, and finally led to his adoption of trans- 
actions in that article as a business. His profits were large as 
well as his transactions. He was again shrewd and wise in in- 
vesting his surplus profits in real estate, bought with care and at a 

325 



2 JACOB V AN DERPOEL. 

low figure, most of wliich, including his very first purcliases on 
Cherry Street, near Franklin Square, he has retained to this day. 

In 1855 he retired from business, and ever since has devoted 
himself to the improvement of his real estate, and the careful and 
judicious investment of his surplus mone3'S. The result has been 
that he has become one of the wealthiest citizens of New York, 
resides upon her most splendid avenue, and is one of her noble 
retired merchant princes. 

Commencing the world without fortune, b}'' force of his untiring 
industry and determined will, coupled with honesty and integrity 
of purpose, he has at middle life and before the sere and yelloNV leaf 
Ijas njarked him, achieved a position wliich is all that can be de- 
sired in this world. Often solicited to enter the arena of politics, 
and to accept liigh and important positions of public trust, he has 
uniformly declined ; with fortune and the respect of neighbors he 
need not aspire to fame. 

The great secret of Mr. Yanderpoel's remarkable success is to be 
attributed, in part, to his excellent judgment, but more to the fact 
that lie has always been strictly honest and upright in all his deal- 
ings. None of his large fortune has been accumulated at the 
expense of others ; on the contrary, many are largely indebted to 
him for their present prosperity. No brighter example of the suc- 
cess attendant on strict integrity of purpose, unswerving perti- 
nacity, unaided by the gifts of fortune, or the advantages of early 
education, is afforded in the city of New York than that of Mr. 
Vanderpoel. One of its most esteemed citizens and most reliable 
men, he began life poor, and has built up a fortune and an hon 
orable name by legitimate trading alone. 

Our free institutions open wide the door, and whoever with a 
strong determination will honestly work and persevere for the same 
result may go and do likewise. 

326 





a^-TtZy? 





SAMUEL 0. POMEEOT, KANSAS. 

By F. H. Gbeer. 

T is becomiag quite common for individuals, as well as 
families, in this country, and especially in New England, 

''^^ to note their origin, and feel an interest in the history 
of their ancestors. 

In the new States of the growing West it is thought less of. 
The question there is — What of the man himself? What are his 
capacities, acquirements, and resources ? with very little concern 
for the standing and qualities of those from whom he descended. 

But a suitable notice and regard of the fathers who trod their 
way before us, is both patriotic and commendable. 

Mr. Bancroft, in his history of the town of Northampton, Massa- 
chusetts, and speaking of its early settlers, mentions the Pomeroy 
family, from whom the subject of this sketch descended, as fol- 
lows : — 

" The Pomeroys trace descent from Ralph de Pomeroy, a favor- 
ite knight of William of Normandy — called the Conqueror — whoia 
he accompanied to England, and acted a conspicuous part in the 
conquest. After which William granted him fifty-seven townships 
or manors, in Devonshire, and several in Somersetshire. In Dev- 
onshire, Sir Ralph built a castle, and founded an estate called 
*■ Bery Pomeroy,' after the seat he had left in Normandy, and by 
which name it is now known. 

" The castle is still a noble view, is visited by antiquarians and 
tourists with great interest, and is considered one of the most 
ancient structures in the kingdom. It is in tolerable preservation, 
and still possessed by a descendant of Sir Ralph. 

" The first emigration of the family out of England was in the 

327 



2 SAMUEL C. POMEROY. 

reign of Queen Elizabeth, when Arthur Pomeroy accompanied the 
Earl of Essex, 'Lord Lieutenant, as his chaplain to Ireland, and re- 
mained in that kingdom. From this branch of the family in Ire- 
land, have sprung, which was ennobled in 1783 by the creation of 
Arthur Pomeroy, a descendant of the first Arthur, as Baron, by the 
title of ' Lord Hurbertson,' of Castle Carbury, and subsequently a 
viscount. 

"Arthur died, and was succeeded in estate and title by his 
brother, Major-General Pomeroy, who served in the British array, 
and in America during the Revolutionary war. 

" The branch of the family from which all the Pomeroys of the 
United States descended, emigrated from Devonshire about the 
year 1735, and consisted of two brothers, Eltweed and Eldad. They 
are represented as men of liberal and independent merits, deter- 
mined to preserve civil and religious freedom, and disgusted with 
tlie tyranny of the Stuarts and Archbishop Laud. They settled 
in Dorchester, near Boston, Massachusetts. These brothers after- 
wards, about 1738, removed to Windsor, on the Connecticut River, 
The records of the colony contain grants of land in that State to 
Eltweed and Eldad Pomeroy. 

" According to tradition, the domains of Normandy produced 
an apple of which the king was fond, and were thereafter called 
Pomeroy, or king-apple. As the surname in those days was taken 
from the estates they occupied, it gave name to the family of Pom- 
eroys, which God preserved, and enabled them to retain the charac- 
teristics of the original stock — true courage, and an unequalled 
spirit of perseverance and ardent attachment to civil and religious 
liberty, and the best feelings of our nature." 

The Pomeroy coat of arms — A lion sitting, holding an apple in 
his paw ; with motto : 

" Yirtutis fortuna comes." 
(Fortune is the companion of valor.) 

From this extract of Bancroft's history, it appears that a son 

328 



SAMUEL C. POMEROY. 3. 

of Eltweed Poraeroy settled in Northampton, Mass. And Samuel 
C. Pomeroy, the subject of this sketch, was born in Southampton, 
Mass., January 3d, 1816, and was the son of Samuel, who was the 
son of Elijah, the son of Caleb, the son of Samuel, the son of Caleb, 
who was the son of Eltweed. 

Mr. Pomeroy spent his boyhood and early life upon his father's 
farm, whicli was a hard and profitless one, in the north part of the 
town, and almost under the shadows of those well-known moun- 
tains, Tom and Holyoke. He enjoyed the advantages of the com- 
mon schools of his native town until he acquired the several 
branches usually taught therein. Being auxious, however, to 
advance still farther, he prepared to enter college by attending the 
Sheldon Academy of Southampton, the Fellenberg School, in 
Greenfield, and the Academy at Shelburn Falls, in Massachusetts, 
during which time he supported himself by teaching school some 
portion of each year. In 1836, he entered Amherst College, and 
at the end of two years went to reside with a brother-in-law in 
Onondago county, New York, and there he measurably recovered 
from an injury he had caused to his eyesight. In that county he 
taught school, and afterward engaged in mercantile business, and 
also in South Butler, AVayne county, N. Y. Here he cast his first 
vote, and engaged, in 1838, in the first canvass, and aided to 
make Hon. William il. Seward Governor of the State of New 
York. 

But during the ever memorable campaign of 1840, Mr. Pomeroy 
although a Wliig, became deeply interested in the principles of the 
" Liberty Party," so called, and often attended and participated 
in those exciting conventions, held by that remarkable man, Alvan 
Stewart, of Utica, N. Y., and deeply impressed with his earnest- 
ness and eloquence, finally espoused the Anti-slavery cause. In 
1842, when the advancing years of his parents appealed to him for 
succor and support, he removed to his native town in Massachusetts, 
and there at once organized the Liberty Party. In this work he 
enlisted all over whom he had any influence. He lectured in 

329 



4 SAMUEL C. POMEROY. 

pcliool-houses, held public discussions, met objections, softened 
down prejudices, and lived down obloquy. Thus year by year he 
labored on, and was often the defeated candidate for the Legisla- 
ture, and sometimes for town and county offices; until in 1851, 
after eight years of unremitting effort he triumphed over both 
Whig and Democratic parties. So that in the winter of 1852 he 
is found in the Legislature of his native State, and gave work and 
vote to Hon. Henry Wilson, for his first seat in the Senate of the 
^Jnited States. As he had the previous year supported the Hon. 
Charles Sumner for the same position, as well also as aiding in 
the Legislature to elect Hon. George S. Boutwell to be Governor, 
and Hon. N. P. Banks to be Speaker of the House of Representa- 
tives. In later years, his association and connection with these 
same gentlemen has been cordial and efficient for the union of the 
States and for the freedom and elevation of a race. 

It was during that session of the Legislature that the Hev. Dr. 
Beecher headed and presented the largest petition ever presented to 
a Legislature, asking for the passage of what is known as the 
" Maine Law." 

Mr. Pomeroy was on the Committee which received the me- 
morial, and he voted for, and urged the passage of that law. 

He also addressed the Legislature with earnestness and effort 
against the rendition of Fugitive Slaves, and in favor of Emancipa- 
tian, with a restoration to citizenship of all persons of African 
descent, not only, but also for their right to all the civil and politi- 
cal privileges of American freemen. Mr. Pomeroy was much inter- 
ested in the passage of the Kansas Nebraska Bill, and especially in 
the amendment which repealed the " Missouri Compromise," so 
called, and opened all the public domain to slavery. And being in 
Washington at the time, he called on the President, Franklin 
Pierce, at the date of his signing the Act, and assured him that 
the triumph of the slave power in Congress was not conclusive on 
that question of slavery extension ; that the contest should be 
eajTied to the Territory, and met tJiere. At the same time telling 

3ao 



SAMUEL C. POMEROT. 5' 

him, that his own purpose to emigrate there, wa^ to strike a Now 
at slavery. 

Mr. Pomeroj could now go, as his duties to his aged parents 
were all discharged. For in the early spring time of that year they 
both had been called to their linal rest, and were buried with their 
fathers. 

At this period the cold heart of the north began to be fired. And 
"emigration to Kansas" was upon very many lips. Hon. Eli 
Thayer had obtained a Charter from the Legislature of Massachus- 
etts, for the " New England Emigrant Aid Company." And Mr. 
Pomeroy was soon chosen as its general and financial agent. 

Mr. Thayer was aided by such men as Amos A. Lawrence, J. M. 
S. "Williams, R. P. Waters, Ames Brothers, Dr. S. Cabot, etc., etc., 
in the organization of that company. Mr. Pomeroy lectured in its 
behalf, and for the cause of emigration to Kansas, until on the 
27th day of August, 1854, he started with a select party of most 
earnest men and women, from Boston, for Kansas. Additions to 
their numbers were received at several points on their way, and on 
the 6th day of October they arrived at Kansas city, on the border 
of the Territory, and after some days the whole party moved up the 
Kansas Valley, about fifty miles, and pitched their tents upon the 
site where the city of Lawreuce now stands. Other pijrties soon 
followed from the east, and were directed into the Territory by the 
same way. 

Later in the Autumn of that year, there came Governor Reeder, 
who, with other Government officials, were welcomed to this, 
Lawrence, a " Yankee settlement," by Mr. Pomeroy, in a speech 
which has often been quoted, as significant of the purpose, if not 
prophetic of results. 

Folia wing this organized emigration came bands of desperadoes 
from Missouri and all the Southern States, and with guns, bowie- 
knives and whiskey, undertook to conquer Kansas to slavery. And 
during the disturbances and trials of 1855 and 1856, Mr. Pomeroy, 
from his known position as agent of this despised company, so 

331 



Q SAMUEL C. POM EROT. 

violently hated, had to bear his full share. Beaten, arrested, im- 
prisoned, and threatened with death, he still escaped all, to com- 
plete the work yet remaining for him to do. He was often at 
Washington, pleading witli those who administered the Govern- 
ment, for the protection and interests of the people of Kansas. Mr. 
Pomcroy was a member of the Convention at Philadelphia, in 1856, 
which nominated General Fremont, and of the Republican Conven- 
tion in Chicago, in 1860, which nominated Mr. Lincoln. lie 
lectured in the Free States, and before the State Legislatures, for the 
Free State cause in Kansas, raising means, sending supplies, 
marching men, and taking military stores through Iowa and 
Nebraska to Kansas, when the Missouri river was closed to them, 
until at last, in 1857, peace, victory and freedom, dawned upon the 
Free State men of Kansas. 

The political career of Mr. Pomeroy became more marked and 
prominent upon the advent of the " Lecompton Constitution," so 
called, which was an etlort to force slavery upon Kansas whether 
they voted the Constitution up or down. 

Against this swindle he fought day and night, denouncing it 
in Kansas, and by written appeals and public lectures through the 
Northern States, until the Congress of 1858 gave it a death blow. 
At this period Mr. Pomeroy had moved from Lawrence to Atchison, 
in Kansas, and upon the retiring of the pro-slavery party, which 
had held sway there, he bought a large share of the town, and toolt 
possession of the same. He purchased also the " Squatter Sover- 
eign," a noted pro-slavery paper, controlled by the celebrated 
Stringfellow, and ran up a free State iiag ; and that paper ever 
afterwards did good service in the free State cause not only, but 
also for the cause of liberty, emancipation, and enfranchisement. 

Mr. Pomeroy was the iirst mayor of Atchison, and was twice 
chosen. He entered heartily into the plan for free schools there, 
and built a church edifice of his own means and deeded it to the 
Congregationalists. He engaged in the relief of the sufferers of 
1860 from the terrible drouth of that yoar, and was chosen chair- 

332 



SAMUEL C. POMEROY. 7 

man of tha State Rsllef Committee, and received and distributed 
supplies for the entire winter of 1831. At the close of these most 
efficient labors, and Kansas being admitted into the Union, Mr. 
Pomeroy met an approvin;^ verdict from the people of Kansas by 
his election to the Senate of the United States. 

His colleague, the Hon. James H. Lane, deceased, was chosen at 
the same time. ' Mr. Pomeroy drew the long term of six years, and 
was again re-elected in 1867 for a term expiring in 1873. 

The expectations entertained of him have not been disappointed 
by his course in the Senate. He had his full share in all the legis- 
lation of the eventful years of the war and those (no less difficult) 
bearing upon the restoration of the States, and in securing by a 
fundamental law the equality of all citizens of the Republic. 

He sustained Mr. Lincoln in his proclamation of Emancipation 
and in urging it ; even went so far as to agree to establish a 
colony in the tropics if the proclamation could at once follow. 
But events then unforeseen pressed upon Mr. Lincoln, and he 
issued his proclamation, and to the great relief of Mr. Pomeroy 
abandoned his scheme of colonization. 

In the Senate, Mr. Pomeroy has done service on the Committees 
on "Public Lands," "Claims," "Post-offices and Post Roads," 
" Pacific Railroads," &c., &c., and for many years was chairman of 
the Public Land Committee. 

His first bill, introduced soon after taking his seat, at the called 
session of Congress in July, 1861, may be learned by its significant 
title : " A Bill to Suppress the Slaveholders^ Rebellion.'''' 

The term. Slaveholders' Rebellion, is believed to have been ori- 
ginal with him, as we do not know of its use prior to that date. 
Ho also took an active part in the passage of the " Homestead 
Law," coming as it did from his own Committee, as well as the 
Pacific Railroad Act, whicli was referred to a special committee, of 
which Mr. Pomeroy was a member. 

But his strongest and best effiirts have been put forth upon those 
questions which have been the lifework of a man now past fifty 



8 SAMUEL C. POMEUOY 

years of age. Upon the 5tli day of March, toward the close of a 
long debate in the Senate, Mr. Pomeroy advocated universal and 
impartial suffrage for all the citizens of the Republic, as the follow- 
ing extract from his published speech will show. He said : " Let 
us not take counsel of our fears, but of our hopes ; not our ene- 
mies, but of our friends ; by all the memories which cluster about the 
pathway in which we have been led ; by all the sacrifices of blood 
and tears of the conflict ; by all the hopes of a freed country, and a 
disenthralled race, yea, as a legacy to mankind, let us now secure 
a free representative Republic, based upon impartial suffrage, and 
that human equality made clear in the Declaration of Independ- 
ence! To this entertainment let us invite our countrymen of all 
nationalities, committing our work, when accomplished, to the ver- 
dict of posterity and the blessing of Almighty God." 

Out of the Senate and during the recess Mr. Pomeroy spends 
much of his time upon his farm at Muscotah, Kansas, where, as he 
has the means, he indulores his fondness for domestic animals of the 
best bloods. 

At the close of his present term, Mr. Pomeroy has signified to his 
friends that he shall retire from the SenatCj as he will have seen 
accomplished during his twelve years of service all he was anxious 
for when he entered public life. 

To liave taken part in the legislation and events which have 
secured, in the fundamental law of the land, the elevation and en- 
franchisement of an oppressed race, the perpetuity of a Union of 
States where citizens of all nationalities are equal before the law, 
seems sufficient to satisty the ambition of any ordinary man, and 
with this view Mr. Pomeroy has expressed his purpose of retire- 
ment. Should Mr. Pomeroy close his political career, it is fair to pre- 
sume, that in the future as well as the past, he will continue to 
exercise a strong controlling political influence. As a politician 
he has been almost invariably successful, chiefly owing to his re- 
markable executive ability. As a public servant, from his first 
ofiice he has always been faithful and conscientious in the discharge 

334 



SAMUEL C. POMEKOT. 9 

of liis duty, and without reproacli. As a citizen, he has labored 
arduously for the interests of his State. 

One of his friends has lately said of him : " True to jjrinciple, 
true to his convictions, true to his country, and terribly true to his 
country's foes, he occupies to-day, as Senator of the United States, 
a proud position among his peers — a position that honors both the 
Representative and the represented. As a patriot, he is earnest ; as 
a statesman lie is logical ; as a politician, consistent ; as a man, 
genial, generous, and just. 

335 




A 




of "Prattsville.N.T". 



HOK ZADOCK PEATT. 



'h 

j^ffllE name of "Pratt" is both ancient and honorable. In 




v5(2*5^ England and France, we find it dates back about six hun- 
dred years. Some of the representatives of this name 
have held high offices in both Church and State ; prime ministers, 
earls, and a cardinal. They have always been distinguished for 
ability, love of liberty, and free institutions, which qualities in their 
descendants have been fostered and nourished under our " Ameri- 
can Flag." In our own country, no name is more extensively 
known and respected among leather merchants or manufacturers 
than the Hon. Zadock Pratt's, the ex-tanner king, who for more 
than a score of years conducted the largest tannery in the world. 

Whatever he has undertaken has been well executed, and every 
position occupied lias been filled with marked ability. As a tanner, 
he has never been excelled at home or abroad. As a Congressman, 
he made his mark in originating and carrying through bills of 
great utility to the nation. As a banker, he was successful, 
doubling the capital of his bank in eight years. He is a model 
farmer, and his large dairy-farm, containing five hundred acres, is 
perfected and brought to a high standard in cultivation ; adorned 
with an elegant mansion, surrounded with more than a mile of 
pleasure-walks which are beautified with shrubbery and trees. 

At every Fair, either at home or abroad, where he has exhibited 
his leather, or products of his dairy-farm, he has received diplomas 
and medals. At tiie World's Fair in London, in 1851, he received 
a diploma, medal, and three elegant bound volumes, containing a 
portrait of Prince Albert, etc. 

The venerable Mr. Pratt is now nearly eighty-one years of age, 
22 337 



2 ZADOCK PRATT. 

almost a connecting link between the two centuries. He was present 
at the funeral ceremonies of General Washington, who died De- 
cember 14rth, 1Y99. He has lived under the administration of every 
president of the United States, and made the acquaintance of most 
of them. 

He has l<een one of the most remarkable men of the present 
centur}'. At the age of ten years, in 1800, he helped his father 
clear ten acres of land, and from that year his life through 
Beven decades of time has been fraught with an every-day impor- 
tant event. During tlie epoch of these seventy years, many king- 
doms have arisen and dynasties have fallen in the old world. Our 
own free and glorious Kepublican institutions have, during this 
period, been educating, modeling, and developing the latent ener- 
gies of the people. 

The greatest discoveries and inventions have been made and per- 
fected ; improvements are marching onward. With nearly all 
these great results and grand achievements, tl>e name of the Hon. 
Zadock Pratt is identified. 

His long life, so full of incident, is quite difficult to compress into 
a short sketch and do him justice, or put ^^mnltum inparvo.^^ 

Besides attending to so large a business, he has been colonel of 
a regiment, a member of the State Legislature, member of Congress, 
merchant, banker, manufacturer, and farmer. He has used in 
different ways ten millions of dollars, without calling a jury or 
having a lawsuit. 

In the year 1809, then only nineteen years of age, he invented 
an improvement in a three-cornered eyeboard leather pump, to 
change the liquors from the old-fashioned tanvats. First ball or 
press-pump was used in the yard by hand, subsequently by water 
and steam ; the kind of pump invented by Mr. Pratt has been used 
ever since, and saves the labor of three workmen. 

At the age of twenty-one Mr. Pratt had saved thirty dollars of 
his earnings ; and during the next year he worked as journeyman 
saddler at ten dollars per month, saving one hundred dollars. 

338 



ZA DOCK PRATT. 3 

The year following, he commenced business for himself as sad- 
dler and ham ess- maker, built a little shop, added store-goods, and 
slept under the counter at night. 

In the year 1817 he added to his saddlery business, tanning and 
ghoemaking. Six years after he was elected Colonel of the One 
Hundredth Regiment of New York, and made his own saddle and 
bridle, which were elegantly ornamented with silver. 

In the year 1824 he located at " Schoharie Kill," now the town 
of Prattsville, and said to the people, " I have come to live among 
you, not on you." The next year he commenced building his great 
tannery establishment, five hundred and fifty feet long, said to be 
the largest in the world. 

In the town of Prattsville (named for him) he has built more than 
one hundred houses, besides helping to build an academy and 
several churches. His donations to benevolent institutions and 
various charitable objects and churches of difierent denominations 
have been very generous — in all more than a million of dollars. 

In 1836 Colonel Pratt was elected Representative to Congress 
from the Eighth District. In every national improvement he has 
been one of the leading men of the times. In 1838 he moved a 
resolution in favor of a reduction of postage, and still later favored 
its reduction to five cents. 

In 18-13 he established the Prattsville Bank with a capital of one 
hundred thousand dollars. In 1841: he voted for the first telegraph 
from Baltimore to Washington. The same year he ofiered au 
amendment to the "General Appropriation Bill," for the appro- 
priation of ten thousand dollars to the Bureau of Topographical 
Engineers, to survey a route for a railroad to the Pacific ; at the 
same time remarking, "I think I may live to ride over the road." 
This trip he has since made, though Colonel Benton then thought 
him a visionary man. 

In 1845 he received a vote of thanks from the " Washington 
Monument Society," desiring that a bust and the name of Colonel 
Z. Pratt should be carved upon stone, and placed in the " Wash- 

389 



4 ZADOCK PRATT. 

ington Monument." During this year ho closed his tannery busi- 
ness, in which he had been engaged for upwards of twenty years. 
For bark and wood alone he had paid half a million of dollars ; in 
various ways he had employed thirty thousand men, and had paid 
for labor more than two and a half millions of dollars. 

In 1850 he was offered the presidency of two Banks. In 1853 he 
was elected President of the '' Sixpenny Savings Bank," and in the 
years lifty-one and fifty-four the same honor was extended to him. 

Colonel Pratt has been a great traveler in his own and foreign 
countries. Nothing worth seeing escapes his observation. He has 
written a series of letters descriptive of California, and his European 
tour, and others which have been generally published. 

In a diary kept by himself he wTites : "" My life, for a period of 
forty years, has been an active and untiring journey. I have never 
known fatigue or fear ; never have carried fire-arms, though few 
men have traveled more or seen more of the world. I have 
minded my own business, and this, no doubt, has saved me from 
thieves, robbers, and murderers." He has lived to witness all the 
important improvements of the present age, and his long life is now 
interwoven with history. The railroad, steamboat, land and ocean 
telegraph, daguerreotype, etc. ; to all these, and to other enter- 
prizes, he contributed largely of his wealth to aid. 

Although one of our most extensive business men, he has found 
time to deliver public lectures on various subjects and in many 
places. 

His early instructions have made an impression on his long life. 
Early in youth he commenced reading a chapter in the Bible every 
day, and he has never discontinued it. He is a member of the 
Episcopal church, and senior vestryman. His charities are not sec- 
tarian, but with a liberal hand he gives unselfishly to all. 

In closing this brief sketch of Colonel Pratt, it is appropriate that 
we pay a tribute of respect to his only son, who gave up his life for 
his country. Among all of our patriots who full a bleeding sacri- 
fice on the altar of liberty in our late war, none were more gallant, 

340 



ZADOCK PRATT. 5 

true, or brave, than General George Pratt, who fell wounded 
in the battle of Manassas, and died as brave men die. He was a 
young officer of great promise, — only thirty-two years of age, — but 
had made great attainments in literature, spoke fluently sixteen 
different languages, was universally beloved in public and private 
life, and his irreparable loss is mourned by all who knew him. 

We have now noticed some of the leading events in the life of 
this remarkable man. We see him in different changes, and filling 
many offices of trust, yet the same self-reliant person. He has now 
reached that station and position in life that commands dignity. 
In the language of another, " He is one of those men upon whom 
nature appears to have put her seal of general greatness, by giving 
him a clear conception of the duties he has to perform, and the 
spirit and talent at once to execute them." 

" Whether we view him as the boy and apprentice, struggling 
with the difficulties of an humble destiny, or as the wealthy, opu- 
lent citizen, or profound legislator, we see the same prominent 
traits that stamp him as one of 'Nature's noblemen.' We can 
recognize in the man the familiar traits of his boyhood. He now 
travels in a larger orbit, adorning the extended circle which he 
has created himself through a life of untiring industry." He can 
now sit " beneath his own fig-tree," at Prattsville, and look on the 
beautiful village, with its gardens flowering and blossoming with 
loveliness, and exclaim, " This I have done." 

341 



V. I \ I..-- .i.i'is'. ,„! 



il L. 




-x-^ 




HON. JUHM A.CtR] 



HOK JOHI^ A. GRISWOLD. 

BY J. ALEXAJSTDEE, PATTEN. 

I 

\W^ ^^^^ subject of the following biograpln^, we find a man of 
Mm'\ marked amiability of character, attractive personal virtues 
and talents, and great success m business and political iiie. 
A true representative of American energy and intelligence, he has 
demonstrated in his own career that large accumulation of wealth, 
and high political preferment may be attained without the slightest 
sacrifice of individual honor. 

John A. Griswold was born at Nassau, Rensselaer County, New 
York, in the year 1822. He comes of Revolutionary stock, I>oth 
of his grandfathers fought for the independence of the colonies, and 
one of them was confined in the terrible " Jersey Prison Ship," in 
Wallabout Bay. He is also a nephew of the late Major-General 
"Wool, of Troy, and in early life, as a member of his uncle's family, 
enjoyed theinfltience of refined and educated societ}'. In youth he 
was noted for most exemplary qualities. He was invariably kind 
and generous, and his truthfulness passed into a ]>roverb. Fond of 
study, he directed his attention to works of solid value, and sought 
in every way to give both mind and body a rigid discipline for after 
usefulness and efifort. When seventeen years of age he went to the 
enterprising city of Troy, to gratify his taste for commercial pur- 
suits, lie entered the iron and hardware house of Hart, Lesley 
& Warren, where he remained a year, and then became book- 
keeper for the cotton-manufactnring firm of C. H. & I. J. Merritt. 
During this year he obtained a thorough business education, and at 
length embarked in business for himself, in a wholesale and retail 
drug establibhmcnt. The grasp of his mind and the scope of his 

343 



2 JOHN A GRISWOLD 

ambition inclined, however, to grander schemes of enterprise and 
profit. His attention was directed to iron manufacture, as one of 
rapidly growing importance, and he became a partner in the Rens- 
selaer Iron Company, located at Troy. 

Tlie extensive works of this company are situated on the banks 
of the Hudson River, and comprise a main building four hundred 
and thirty feet in length by one hundred and lifty in width, with 
machine and blacksmith's shop, etc., adjacent. There are fourteen 
puddling furnaces and thirteen lieating furnaces, which together 
consume about ten thousand tons of bituminous and fifteen thou- 
sand tons of anthracite coal per annum. About six thousand tons 
of pig iron and fourteen thousand tons of old rails are annually 
used in these works and converted into railroad bars and merchant- 
able iron. A machine for finishing locomotive tires is run in con- 
nection with the rail mill. About four hundred and fifty men 
are employed. 

As the president and manager of the Rensselaer Iro?i Coujpany, 
Mr. Griswold found himself in a congenial position. He introduced 
the utmost efiiciency into every department, and expanded the 
busineSvS with a zeal and enterprise that gave the Works great prom- 
inence, and proved liighly berieficial to the city of Troy. With 
other capitalists he introduced into the United States the process of 
iron maii\ifact\ire known as the Bessemer steel process, wdiicli 
promises within a few years to substitute the steel rail for the iron 
rail on the railroads of this country. 

On the breaking out of the war he urged npon the government 
the expediency of putting iron plates on wooden vessels for war 
purposes. In 1861 he was one of tlu'ee who concluded a contract 
for this work. At the same time these associates exhibited to tlie 
Naval Board and President Lincoln a model of an iron-clad vessel 
made by Captain John Ericsson, of New York. A favorable 
report was made by the Naval Board, and, in consequence, a con- 
tract entered into with Mr. Griswold and associates for the construc- 
tion of a single battery according to the model subnutted. It was 

344 



JOHN A. GRISWOLD. 3 

stipulated that the vessel should be completed in one hundred days 
from the signing of the contract, which was on October 5, ISGl, 
and it was to withstand the fire of the eneniiey' batteries at the 
shortest I'ange. The contract price was two hundred and seventy- 
live thousand dollars. The vessel completed under this contract 
was the immortal Monitor^ which so successfnll}^ engaged the rebel 
iron-clad Merrimac in Hampton Roads on the 9tli of March, 1SG2. 
She had been built at the Continental Works, Greenpoint, Long 
Island, by Mr. Thomas F. HoM'land, under the supervision of 
Captain Ericsson, and was launched on January 30, 1862, which 
was the one hundred and first working day from the time the con- 
tract was made. The plating and portions of her machinery and 
other iron work v/ere manufactured at the Rensselaer Iron Works 
and the Albany Iron Works. Her exploit filled the land with 
rejoicing, and the President and his Cabinet personally awarded to 
the contractors the position of public benefactors. 

These and other exertions in behalf of the government were but 
the performance of pledges made by Mr. Griswold to the people 
on the tiring of the first gun in the contest. As president of a war 
meeting held in Troy on the 15th of April, 1861, the day after the 
ai-rival of the news of the fall of Fort Sumter, he declared that 
any man who should be influenced by political considerations in 
such a crisis ought to receive univej'sal public execration, and 
expressed the hope that the citizens would respond with alacrity to 
the call of the President for men. The Second Regiment of New 
York volunteers was the result which followed this and similar 
meetings. Mr. Griswold also aided in raising the 30th, 125th, and 
169th regiments of New York volunteers, as well as the Black 
Horse Cavalry, and the 21st New York, or "Griswold Light 
Cavalry." From the beginning to the long-deferred end of the 
struggle he toiled with a patience and never-dying faitii for the 
restoration of the Union. 

Mr. Griswold entered i)ublic life in 1855, when he was elected 
mayor of Troy. In October, 1862, he was nominated on the 

345 



4 JOHN A. GRISWOLD. 

Democratic ticket, in the Fifteenth Congressional Dibtrict, for 
member of Congress. The district was strongly Kepublican, but 
Mr. Griswold's admitted ability in office, and his patriotic course 
daring the war, drew to him the votes of both parties. lie was 
elected by a majority of one thousand two hundred and eighty- 
seven votes, while in the same district the liepublican ticket re- 
ceived a majority of eight hundred and seventeen votes. Taking 
his seat as a member of the Thirty-eighth Congress, he at once 
nu\de his mark. "As a member of the Naval Committee," says an 
account, " he labored indefatigably and effectively to strengthen 
and promote the efficiency of the navy. Acting ever from prin- 
ciple, the agency of former party friendships was exerted in vain 
to impose upon him a course of conduct that involved the spirit of 
'disloyalty. Unflincliing patriotism, such as was his, stood unshaken 
by the dictation of caucus, or the persuasion of earlier political 
tics. Witii such a record he returned home at the close of the 
session of 1864, As one man, the Union men of his district 
resolved to retm-n him to the seat in Congress which he had tilled 
M'ith such distinguished honor.'' He was renominated by accla- 
mation on the 14th of September, 1864, at the Union Nominating 
Convention of the Fifteenth District, and against the most deter- 
mined efforts of the op]>osition was again elected to Congress for 
the term commencing March 4, 1865. His patriotic course during 
the sessions of the Thirty-ninth Congress was cordially indorsed by 
the majority of his constituents, and he was renominated for a 
seat in the Fortieth Congress. He received a majority of live thou- 
sand three hundred and sixteen votes, the largest ever given to any 
representative from his district. In this Congress he was a mem- 
ber of the Committee of Ways and Means. As a further approval 
of his eminent services, in July, 1868, he was nominated by the 
Republican State Convention for the office of Governor of New 
York. His opponent on the Democratic side was John T. Hoffman, 
one of the most popular men of the State. In 1867, the Democrats 
had carried the State by forty-eiglit thousand majority, and in the 

316 



JOHN A. GRISWOLD, 5 

election of 1868 the official returns gave Mr. Iloffnian a majority 
of about twenty-eight thousand. 

We can not refrain from enhirging upon the significance of Mr. 
Griswold's })ublic career. It is inscribed on the legi^hitive records 
of the dark hour in the annals of the nation auiong the acts of im- 
mortal patriotism that saved the Union from dismemberment and 
ruin. Heedless of the policy of party and of the influence of live- 
long friendship, he stood throughout the entire period of civil strife, 
the fearless patriot and moral hero. '' On all questions of furnishing 
supplies," says another, " on all matters of financial policy, and 
upon every declaration of the duty of crushing the rebellion, and 
preserving the government, he constantly and uniformly gave his 
vote with the Union men in Congress." By his firm attitude and 
cheerful hope, by these promptly given and unchanged votes, and 
by his activity, efliciency, and liberality, in every sphere of useful- 
ness, he fulfilled his whole duty to his struggling country. His 
conduct was statesmanship in its most profound phase, and patri- 
otism in its most sublime asi)ect. It was where the mind penetrated 
beyond the uncertainty and tumult of the hour to the grandest 
national results, and where the heart was pure and brave enougli 
to endure partisan obloquy for tlie common good. 

Mr. Griswold has a well-proportioned and graceful figure. His 
head is large and finely shaped, with regular, handsome features. 
The wdiole countenance is beann'ng with intelligence and that 
amiable expression which shows the refined and gentle nature. At 
the same time you see that he is a person who, when the occasion 
calls for it, has a resolution which is seldom shaken. Ilis maimers 
are polite, and, without the slightest afiFectation, are always high- 
bred and dignified. In business energetic and comprehensive, in 
public duties enlightened and faithful, he is in social life one of the 
most polished and popular of men. 

847 




^VG-.E.Berin.e^-"*'' 



c;;;l7>0-^iy(A^ ^<H^^^^ 



JAMES WATSOIsT WEBB. 




E adopt the following skotcli of General "Webb up to 1S58, 
for two reasons. In the first place, it was publislied in 
Hayjpir's Wecl'lij and the Cmirier and Enquirer — papers 
of the widest circulation of that day — and it fearlessly challenged 
criticism, at a time when from political considerations at least half 
the press of the Union wonld, if pos^able, have rpiestioncd its facts. 
The accuracy of the biography was conceded by all parties, and 
has become historical. And secondly, we adopt this sketch by the 
Hon. Geo. IT. Andrews, because that gentleman has since served 
with distinction in the Senate of the State of New York, and is now 
one of the Commissioners of Taxes in the city of New Yoi'k. proba- 
bly the most responsible office in the State. 

[From the 2fcn"ning Courier and New York Kmjuircr of September IG, 1858.] 

The following very Ijrief biography of General Webb, who for 
nearly thirty-one years has been the responsible editor of this paper, 
was prepared for IL(.7'per-''s WechJi/ by George 11. Andrews, E-,q., 
one of the associate editors of the Courier and Eiupnrer, who had 
been employed upon it, as man and boy, nearly a quarter of a cen- 
tury. Brief as the biography is, it was found to be too long for 
Harpers Wer-k/'/, and a very short synopsis of it was made to 
accompany the wood-cut in that paper. 

General Webb is now absent in Massachusetts, and his associates 
have determined to publish this sketch, because it is more satisfac- 
tory than the synopsis of it which appeared in ITavferx ; because 
it contains certain explanations which we think due to the 
present generation of our readers, and which \ve think General 

340 



t> JAMES WATSON WEBB. 

Webb will permit to be made ; and because, having prepared the 
Avork to our satisfaction, we do not liive to see our labor thrown 
away. We therefore "assume the responsibility" of publishing it 
in the Courier and Enquirer. 

General J. Watson Webb was born in Claverack, Columbia 
County, New York, on the 8th of February, 1802. His father. Gen- 
eral Samuel B. Webb, of Wethersiield, Connecticut, was the sixth 
lineal descendant from Richard Webb, who was admitted a free- 
"^an in the town of Boston in 1632, and settled Hartford in 1635, 
in connection with the Eev. Mr. Hooker, and sixty-three followers. 
At the battle of Bunker Hill, Lieut. Webb commanded Capt. Ciies- 
ter's company of volunteers ; was wounded, thanked in general 
orders for his gallantry, and appointed aid-de-camp of General 
Putnam. In June, 1776, he was appointed the aid-de-camp of 
Washington, and was wounded at the battle of White Plains, and 
again at Trenton. In 1777, he was promoted to the command of 
the Third Connecticut Regiment, raised by himself, and almost ex- 
clusively at his own expense, and after serving some months on the 
Hudson, he was taken prisoner in crossing over to Long Island 
under command of General Parsons. He was not exchanged until 
1781, when, upon the retirement of Baron SteuV)en, he succeeded 
that officer in the command of the light infantry of the army. 

In all the old histories of Connecticut, as also in Lossing's "Pic- 
torial History of the Revolution," there is a representation of what 
is called the "Webb House," in Wetliersfield, which owes its celeb- 
rity to the following circumstance. When the Count Roeliambeau 
arrived off our coast with a French fleet in 1780, it was necessary 
that he and Washington should meet. New York was in possession 
of the British, and the meeting could only take place somewhere to 
the eastward. Accordingly, Washington applied to his former aid- 
de-camp, General Samuel B. Webb, who arranged that Washington 
and Rochambeau, with their respective staffs, should meet at his 
father's house in Wetliersfield. They went accordingly : and hence 
the historical character of the old family mansion. 

350 



JAMES WATSON WEBB. 3 

At the close of the Revolution General "Webb settled in- New 
York, and in 1787 married the daugliter of Judge Ilogeboom, ol 
Columbia County, the great-grand-daughter of the original propri- 
etor of the manor of Claverack, to whom it v/as granted in 1704, 
The subject of this nienioir, therefore, is equally descended from the 
English and Dutch settlers of our country ; and is what, in the olden 
time, boys used to denominate a " Yankee Dutchman." He was 
named James Watson after James AVatson, of this city, who was a 
captain in the Third Connecticut Regiment, subsequently one ot 
our most distinguished merchants, and a Senator of the United 
States. 

At the age of twelve, General Webb went to reside at Coopers- 
town, in Otsego County, with his brother-in-law and guardian, 
Judge George Morell, where he completed his education under the 
immediate supervision of the Rev. John Smith, who had the repu- 
tation of being one of the best linguists in the State. Judge Morell, 
then at the head of the bar in Otsego County, and subsequently 
Chief Justice of Michigan, wished Webb to study law in his office, 
but this was decidedly objected to. Webb claimed to go in the 
army or navy, or else to study medicine. To this the guardian ob- 
jected, instancing that an elder brother had studied medicine and 
inmiediately abandoned the profession and entered the army : that 
he, Morell, had also taken his degree as a pliysician and then turned 
to the law, and in.^isted that no more such experiments should be 
tried. The army and navy he said were out of the question. Both 
parties were obstinate, and the difference resulted in a compromise; 
— young Webb was to try the mercantile profession. He did so in 
good faith with Colonel Magher, of Cherry Yalley ; but at the ex- 
piration of tliree months gave notice to his brother-hi-lawthat it v/ould 
not do. But his guardian insisted that it was too late to change. 
Webb ceased to remonstrate, but promptly decided upon his course. 
He was a favorite of the late Jabcz D. Hammond and James 0. 
Morse, Avho took pleasure in placing at his disposal their excellent 
libraries, and during the six montiis he was in Cherry Yalley he 

351 



4 JAMES WATSON WEBB. 

did little besides reading with avidity sucli books as Mr. Hammond 
reeommeiided to him. All his plans being arranged to dismiss 
those in authority over him, he made a visit to his brother-in-law 
at Cooperstown, and upon leaving him, had quietly deposited in 
the box of an old-fashioned gig his portion, the one-seventh of his 
father's silver, which had been divided among the children in 1808. 
In those days families of any position prided themselves upon tlie 
quantity of their plate ; and young Webb's inheritance in this re- 
gard was quite sufficient for all his purposes, although he never 
ceased to regret that he was thus deprived of family relics which he 
so greatly prized. 

Having thus legitimately " raised the wind" for his intended escape 
from all control, he gave notice to Colonel Magher of his intention 
to leave him. The colonel, of course, supposed it to be a family 
matter, as he (Webb) had just returned from a visit to his brother- 
in-law, and only requested of him to remain until he could visit 
New York to make a purchase of goods. This did not suit the views 
of the boy, as it might lead to a discovery of his intended " runa- 
way" and the defeat of his military aspirations. But the request 
was reasonable and not to be refused. On the day after Colonel 
Magher's return, however. Master Webb, then seventeen years of 
age, ])ade adieu to Cherry Yalley, and gave notice to his bi'Other- 
in-law that he would in future dispense with his duties as guardian. 
He came direct to this city, where Governor Clinton then was, having 
just married Miss Jones. He knew the Governor well; and he 
knew also, that if he did not put a bold face upon it, detection was 
more than probable. Accordingly, as the Governor often related 
the interview, when asked how his family wore, young Webb re- 
plied that they, were all well, and desired to be kindly remembered 
to the Governor. He stated to the Governor that he was on his 
way to Washington to get a commission in the army, and wanted 
a letter from him to Mr. Calhoun, the Secretary-of-War. The Gov- 
ernor remarked that such a letter would do him an injury instead 
of service, as he was in bad odor with the administration. Webb 

352 



JAMES WATSON WEBB. 5 

eaid tliat he was aware of that, and simply wished the letter to be 
r. certificate of lii^-i being the son of General Samuel B. Webb, and 
of his desire to enter the army; and witli such certificate, President 
Monroe and his Either having been friends during the Revolution, 
he did not doubt his success. The Governor readily gave the letter, 
but at the same time cautioned the youth against anticipating any 
favorable result from his visit to the Federal city. He, however, 
was more sanguine; and report says, that having ascertained the 
cost of his trip to Washington, he laid that sum aside, and devoted 
every dolUir of what remained of the proceeds of the family plate, 
to see the lions in New York ! This being accomplished, he repair- 
ed to Washington, and presented himself to Mr. Calhoun, who so 
thoroughly won the heart of the boy, that in after life, and amid 
all the changes of parties and party politics, he had secured the ser- 
vices of one, of whom it has been truly said, that he never forgot a 
favor and never forsook a friend ; but has proved himself, through 
a period ot thirty years of i)arty strife, faithful to the end, regard- 
less alike of the requirements of party and that political expediency 
which too often ignores the claims of justice and truth, and repudi- 
ates mere personal friendships. 

When Mr. Calhoun had read De Witt Clinton's letter, under pro- 
test that it was but a certificate of identity, he frankly admitted 
the boy's claims to consideration ; but at the same time said it was 
absolutely impossible to give him the appoii^tment he solicited, in 
consequence of the graduating class at West Point being a large 
one, and more than sufficient to fill all the vacancies ; and that 
their claims were paramount. Now came the struggle: a runaway 
from hoine with only three dollars in his pocket, and too proud 
ever to return home if he failed in his object of getting either in 
the army or navy, the young gentleraa!i was in what might well 
be described as '• a tight place." But nil claaperandiua was his 
motto ; and he inquired of the Secretary, whether, if there had 
been no graduating class from West Point, his claims would have 
been recognized and ho appointed. Mr. Calhoun seemed somewhat 
2'^" 353 



Q JAMES WATSON WEBB. 

astcmislied at tin's business-like mode of viev/ing the subject, Itut 
Beemingly disposed to humor the boj, said, " Certainly, but why 
do you ask?" ''Because in that case," was the prompt reply, 
"I wish permission to address you a letter, examining into the jus- 
tice of the ground upon which you liave made a decision which 
can not fail to have an influence upon my future life," Mr. Calhoun 
became interested, and told the boy to write freely wdiatever he 
pleased, and his letter should receive a respectfnl consideration. 
This w'as the 12th of August, 1819. The weather was intolerably 
hot, but the young adventurer, for such he had now become, re- 
turned to his lodgings, and went at his work, as he has since so 
often done at an editorial, and that same evening finished and left 
at the door of Mr. Calhoun's residence his memoir, intended to 
demonstrate that the position the Secretary had assumed was not 
tenable, because it was not just. He contrasted the position oi' 
the graduates from West Point with his own — voun<? men selected 
from different parts of the Union, and mostly from political con- 
aiderations; who having been educated for four years by the 
government, and supported and clothed by it during the same 
period, could not be said to have any claims upon the country 
other than their peculiar fitness for the army. lie, on the contrary, 
had been educated at his own expense; his father had served from 
the commencement to the end of the Revolution — freely shedding 
his blood in defense of his principles — and without any other re- 
ward than the privilege of having spent a fortune and the best 
years of his life in the service of a country, wliicli now argued 
that those upon wdiom it had conferred the benefits of an educa- 
tion, had greater claims to a commission in the army than one 
whose father had aided in the establishment of our independence, 
and who had been educated at his own expense instead of at the 
expense of the country. He admitted that, if better qualified for 
the place, the claim of the cadet to a commission, or rather the 
right of the country to the cadet's services, allowed of no question ; 
but if, on the contrary, he was as well educated as those about to 

354 



JAMES WATSON WEBB. 7 

graduate at West Point, tliere could he 110 doubt of liis greater 
claim to the appointment. lie claimed to he as well qualified in 
all respects save military tactics ; and proposed that a hoard of 
officers should he appointe^l to examine him in all the studies pur- 
sued at the Military Academy, except engineering and other purely 
military studies ; and if found competent, then he insisted that it 
was his right to receive a commission regardless of the graduating 
cadets and their claims. The letter closed with an intimation, 
that he should call on the Secretary at his house the following 
morning at 9 o'clock, to learn his decision in regard to his applica- 
tion. On the following morning he presented himself at Mr. 
Calhoun's door at the time indicated, and was shown into the 
reception-room. Mr. Calhoun entered almost immediately, and 
looking very sternly at him, said — " Young gentleman, I suppose 
you have come to knowy our ^/'ct;!^^ .^ " slightly accenting the last 
word. This had the effect intended ; and "VYehh, believing the 
decision was adverse, firmly responded that such was his purpose. 
At this Mr. Calhoun relaxed into one of his blandest smiles, which 
those familiar with them will never forget, and taking him by the 
hand, said kindly, " You are mistaken. I have carefully read 
your letter, and you have demonstrated your claim to be appointed, 
while the manner in which you have accomplished your purpose, 
is with me evidence of your fitness for the army.'' 

A long conversation then ensued, in whioh Mr. Calhoun drew 
from him an admission that he was a " runaway " from home, and 
only seventeen years of age ; and the interview closed with his 
being appointed a lieutenant in the Fourth Battalion of Artillery, 
then commanded by Colonel House, with oi-ders to report at 
G-overnor's Island in the harbor of New York ; — thus not only 
giving him a commission, but also conceding the choice of corps 
and station. 

Those who know General Webb, need not be told what even his 
enemies concede, viz., that his leading characteristic is devoted 
attachment to those who have done him a kindness. Accordingly, 

355 



8 JAMES l^'ATSON WEBB. 

we find tliat during liis long political career, he never suffered an 
unkind word to be published against Mr. Calhoun, widely as they 
differed upon tlie exciting topics of the day. Wliile the Courier 
and Enquirer opposed what it deemed Mr. Calhoun's errors, it 
always expressed a conviction tiiat he was the very soul of honor, 
and a politician of the greatest purity and sincerity, acting upon 
a mistaken view of the sul)ject3 upon which they differed. This 
was so marked that our leading men well knew there existed some 
bond of attachment toward Mr. Calhoun which was stronger than 
mere part}' considerations; for never did General Webb visit 
Washington without paying his respeets to Mr. Callioun before he 
called upon any other person. So well were the relations between 
tiic parties understood, that in the winter of 1845-'6 when Presi- 
dent Polk's 54° 40° message, as it was called, had rendered war 
with England almost inevitable, and when England had actually 
prepared for the conflict, Mr. Webster atid the Honorable Willie 
P. Mangum wrote to General Webb and requested him to rei)air to 
Washington ; where, they stated, his services were wanted. Gen- 
eral Webb had written a series of articles in the Courier and 
Enquirer arguing that the United States had not tiie sliadow of a 
claim to any territory north of 49'* of nortli latitude and urging 
upon congress a settlement of the Northwestern Boundary ques- 
tion upon that basis; and on his reporting himself to Mr. Webster 
discovered that it was in connection with this subject that his 
presence in Washington was desired. Mr. Webster informed him 
that beyond all question a war with England must follow our 
government's persisting in its unjust demand ; and that it cvuild 
only be averted by inducing the immediate friends of Mr. Calhoun, 
five in number, to unite with the Whigs in the Senate in the passage 
of a resolution disavowing any claim north of latitude 49°. And 
knowing the kind personal relations existing between General 
Webb and Mr. Calhoun, he had sent for him, with a view of having 
the distinguislied South Carolinian approached uj)on the subject of 
such a union. General Webb urged that such appeal could be 

356 



JAMES \V A TSOX WEBB. 9 

better made by Mr. Webster and Mr. Mangmn ; and endeavored 
to waive the mission as one whicb really belonged to others. But 
all in vain. They claimed that his position toward Mr. Calhoun, 
which Avas well understood, peculiarly fitted him for the duty, and 
act he must. He accordingly waited upon Mr. Calhoun, and after 
.apologizing for presuming to approach Jiim on such a subject, 
frankly opened the question by stating precisely wliat had passed 
between him and Mr. Webster and the leading Whi^-s of the Senate, 
and what it was they desired. We quote from General Webb's 
report of the interview — wliicli he never lost an occasion to repeat 
both before and since the death of Mr. Calhoun, always awarding 
to the manly, straightforward patriotism of that distinguished states- 
man, the merit of having prevented our country's being involved 
in an unjust war with the greatest maritime power of the world. 
General Webb says : — 

" After listening attentively, Mr. Calhoun complimented me upon 
tiie articles I had written to prove that we liad no claim north of 
49° ; and ther. proceeded to review and re-argue the whole question 
in the most lucid and masterly manner, and concluded by sayijig : 
' Whatever others may think or say, ijna know that I never per- 
mitted my party feelings or party obligations to interfere with my 
duty to our (country. It is clear to my mind, that we have no just 
claim beyond 49° ; and I agree with Mr. Webster that to persist in 
claiming to 54° 40°, can not fail to involve us in an unjust war. 
Say to him, therefore, that when the occasion' presents, I, and such 
of my friends as will be guided by my advice — it is not for nie to 
eay whether they are one or live in numljer — will most cheerfully 
act in concert with Whig senators, in confining our claim to 49° 
of north latitude." 

Upon this report being made to Me.-srs. Webster and Mangum, 
the defeat of Mr. Polk's war policy was deemed certain. Unlooked- 
for delay occurred, however, in tlie unexpected avowal of Mr. N. 
P. Talmadge, of New York, — who had been elected to the Senate 
by the Whigs upon his abandonment of the Democratic party, to 

357 



10 JAMES "WATSON WEBB. 

■\vliicli lie was now desirous of returning— that he intended to vote 
with the administration in favor of 54° 40'. In like manner, too, 
Mr. John M. Clayton, of Delaware, apprehensive of being in a 
minority, much to the astonishment of senators, indicated his de- 
termination to abandon his friends and vote for President Polk's 
untenable claim. During this period General Webb was absolutely 
compelled by the leading Whig senators to remain in Washingtuii ; 
and there is written testimony from Mr. Webster, and also from 
Mr. Mangum who is still living, and which we have seen, showing 
how much the final settlement of this question depended upon the 
direct action of General Webb, which, in one instance, involved the 
probabilities of a personal affair — a certain senatoi' having author- 
ized General Webb to report to Mr. Webster that he would vote 
for 49° and subsequently denying it, and avowing a determination 
to vote for 54° 40'. The affair was settled by his vote being cast for 
49°, and in conformity with liis pledge made to Mr. Webster through 
General Webb. At least three of the Whig senators of that day, 
who are still living, are cognizant of the fact alluded to, which 
settled the Northwestern Boundary question v^'ith England in 
favor of justice, peace, and 49°, instead of 54° 40'. 

In doing justice to the memory of Mr. Calhoun we have been led 
astray from the task in hand. Lieutenant AVebb reported for duty in 
New York Harbor in August, 1819; but fond of active life, and 
desirous of knowing the great West, he exchanged to Detroit in the 
autumn of the same year. 

* * -X- * * -x^ * 

At the reduction of the army in 1821, Lieutenant Webb was re- 
tained in the artillery ; and his pride being thus satisfied, he pro- 
posed to exchange with a brother officer, formerly of the artillery, 
but who had been retained in the 3d Infantry, and was dissatisfied 
at being forced into a corps which he did not like. The exchange 
v/as accomplished, and in June, 1821, Lieutenant Webb reported 
for duty at Chicago, which post was then commanded by Colonel, 
afterward General John McNeil, who fought so gallantly under 

368 



JAMES WATSON Wf:BB. H 

Scott at Cliippewa. Webb was appointed tbe adjutant of tbo 
post ; and from his activity of mind, did abnost everybody's duty 
as well as his own, and was looked upon as the commander. On 
the last 01 January, 1822, Mr. McKinsey, the sub-agent of Indian 
affairs, reported to the commandant, that a friendly Pottawatomie 
cliief had brought to him a piece of tobacco sent him by the Sioux 
Indians, with an invitation to his tribe to participate in cutting 
oiF the 5th Regiment of Inftmtry, then stationed at St. Peters, at 
the Falls of St. Anthony, and occupying only temporary huts, in 
full reliance upon the friendly feelings of the Sioux. It was well 
known that Colonel Snelling and his entire command, including 
the wives and children of the ofiicers and men of the regiment, — 
almost every officer in which was married, — were in a very exposed 
condition, as they had not had time to erect the necessary works 
for their defense ; and of course, as there was no doubt of the ac- 
curacy of the intelligence, the greatest anxiety prevailed at Chicago 
in regard to their fare. The adjutant was accordingly ordered to 
find some person willing to carry a letter to the commandant of 
Fort Armstrong, at Rock Island, on the Mississippi, the information 
to be thence forwarded up to St. Anthony. But there were no in- 
habitants within 180 miles of the fort, the nearest being at Fort 
Wayne, in Indiana, with the exception of a few cngagees^ or half- 
breed fur traders, who wintered about the garrison. These and the 
friendly Indians peremptorily refused to go from fear of the Win- 
nebagoes, then occupying the country between Chicago and the 
MississippL In this dilemma Colonel McJ^Teil expressed his unwill- 
ingness to order any party upon such a duty, as the weakness of his 
command rendered it impossible to detach a force sufficient to pro- 
tect itself; and yet there existed the most urgent necessity for the 
information being conveyed to Rock Island, be the hazard what it 
might. In this emergency Adjutant Webb volunteered his services, 
which were gladly accepted, and, having resigned his adjutancy, 
he left the fort on the 4:th of February, ac(;ompanied by a sergeant 
and an Indian guide, with one horse to ridC' and break a path 

359 



12 JAMES WATSON WEBB. 

throiigli the snow, and one to pack tlieir provisions. It was liis in- 
tention to. make Hock River, where lived an old Frencli fiir trader, 
and there procure a Winnebago to guide him to Fort Armstrong, 
on the Mississippi, sending back his Pottawatomie guide. On 
reaching Eock River, liowever, on the evening of the fourtli dav, 
he heard the Winnebagoes actually engaged in their celebrated 
war-dance, and Avas told that it was preparatory to their leaving 
in the morning on a war-path, to surprise and capture Fort Arni- 
Btrong, the very place to which Lieutenant Webb was seeking a 
friendly guide. The immediate cause of tliis outbreak was said to 
be the arrival on tlie river, two days previously, of three Indians 
who had been sentcTiced to be hung at Kaskaskia for the murder of 
soldiers at Fort Armstrong some months before ; but the real cause 
for the proceeding was the fact, that the Winnebagoes were in 
league with tlie Sioux to cut off the garrison at St. Anthony, and 
intended taking Fort Armstrong in tlieir v/ay. Lieutenant Webb 
and his Indian and soldier were secreted by the Fionchman, Lasal- 
lier, until all was quiet; and he tlien commenced an examination 
into the probabilities and possibilities of getting to Fort xirmstrong, 
without the aid and in deliance of the Winnebagoes. To follow 
tlie course of the river was certain destruction, but there v\-as a 
(jhance over the great prairie. The thermometer wlien lie left 
Chicago, marked eight d^-j^veeiheloio zero, an.] it -had been growing 
colder ; and Lasallier admitted, that after a dtiy's chase over the 
great prairie, tlie Indians would pro!)ably return from fear of freez- 
ing to death — a fate that he said would certainly overtake the offi- 
cer if he made the attempt. Lieutenant Webb acquiesced in this rea- 
soning and advice, and agreed to return to the fort, and asked to be 
roused at two o'clo.'k in the morning witli that view. He kept his 
own counsel ; but of coarse, the idea of returning never for a mo- 
ment crossed his mind. In the first place, the aband)iiment of the 
expedition from appreheadon of danger was to be disgraced for- 
ever ; but even this was trifling in comparison with the reflection, 
tl'.at an entire regiment of soldiers — their wives and cluldreu — • 

860 



JAMES WATSON WEBB. 13 

would, by snsli abaiidonnioat, be loft to the tender mercy of the 
savages, who had promised their ulL'es to spare neither age nor sex. 
Besides, inured to fatigue and exposure, and courting both from 
habit, Lieutenant Webb, as he has frequently said, believed that he 
and his sergeant could out-travel the Indians with six hours of 
start ; and in any contingencj', could endure more continuous 
fatigue now tliat they had had four days' training. And as for the 
cold, that was only a question of endurance. If they could walk 
without rest for two days and three nights, they were certain to 
reach their place of destination ; as the cold would not be fatal 
while in motion, and the Indians would thus be put at detiance. 

At two o'clock on the morning of the 8th of February, his twen- 
tieth birthday. Lieutenant Webb, his soldier, and Indian conimenced 
their apparently homev/ard trip, — but he soon apprised his com- 
panion that his destination was the Mississip]^i, and that his In- 
dian must take the necessary provisions and return to the fort at 
Chicago. But the Pottawatomie's fear of the Winnebao-oes could 
not be overcome : and the Indian would not listen to beino- left 
alone in the Winnebago country, even with his face turned toward 
home. He was fairly warned that almost certain abandonment and 
death, awaited him in the forced march abjut to be undertaken ; 
but persuasion and threats and orders were alike disregarded. 
Return he dared not; and so he braved death in the other direc- 
tion, well knowing that, if the pursuit were a hot one, he would 
have but little chance against the endurance of ths white man. 
The Indian will trot off his hundrei mile^ while the best white is 
doing his seventy-five, but when it corner to endurance day after 
day and night after night, the white man increases in his capacity 
to endure and his ability to perform, while the Indian is worn out 
and rendered absolutely unable to sustain the ordinary amount of 
physical exertion. 

Rock River was crossed about three a. m. ; and at eight, as it 
subsequently appeared, the chase on the part of the Winnebngoos 
commenced. Fortunately for the pursued, the snow was about 

801 



14 JAMES WATSOX WEBB 

eight inches deep, and the thermoiueter that day at Furt Annstroni;, 
forty miles south, was standing twenty-seven degrees helow zero, in 
the woods ! How cold it was on the bleak and shelterless prairio 
must be left to conjecture. Under such circumstances, Lieutenaiit 
Webb felt that every thing depended upon his improving his five or 
six hours' start, and went to work to prove the truth of the sailors* 
adage that " a stern chase is always a long one." It proved so in 
this case. After encountering fatigues and hardships, which it is 
no part of our intention in this brief notice to mention, Providence 
guided him in safety and unharmed, not only to the banks of the 
Mississippi, but through the body of hostile Indians b}'^ wdiich the 
fort was surrounded, and into the fort itself. His escape was 
deemed almost miraculous by Major Larabee (who commanded) and 
his brother officers; and it is easy to conceive the impression made 
upon them by the intelligence respecting the purpose of the Sioux 
Indians toward tlie regiment at Fort Snelling. On the same daj'' 
an express was sent up the Mississippi on the ice, with a communi- 
cation from Lieutenant Webb, which in due time reached Colonel 
Snelling, one of the most active and efficient officers in the service ; 
and, most fortunately, at a period when the leading chiefs of the 
Sioux were in or about the garrison. These were quietly seized and 
confined in the guard-house, and runners dispatched into the interior, 
inviting all the principal men of the nation to a grand council. They 
came accordingly' ; and while in council, the troops surrounded 
the council-house and Colonel Snelling announced to them his 
knowledge of their treachery, and the very important fact that their 
principal chiefs were then in confinement as hostages, and thus 
most eft'ectually defeated the intended rising ; which, but for the 
energy and perseverance of Lieutenant Webb, must have resulted in 
the massacre of the entire regiment and its women and children. 

In the mean time Lasallier, the old Frenchman at Rock River, sent 
a friendly Indian to Chicago, to report that Lieutenant Webb had 
foolishly taken to the ]>rairie and was pursued by a war party of 
the AVinnebagoes, who could not fail to overtake and destroy him. 

362 



JAMES WATSON WEBB 15 

In consequence of tliis intelligence, on tlie next monthly return of 
the post, Lieutenant Webb and his sergeant were reported "Killed 
by the Indians!" 

We have given these two anecdotes of Gen. Webb as illnstratina- 
his leading characteristics, — entire fearlessness and great energy, 
combined with untiring perseverance and a reckless disregard of 
consequences — which have been so conspicuous in his editorial 
career, and rendered him too frequently an object of assault by his 
political friends as well as his opponents. 

In the summer of 1823, Lieutenant Webb married Helen Lispe- 
nard, daughter of Alexander L. Stewart of this city, and grand- 
daughter of Anthony Lispenard, Esq., one of the oldest Huguenot 
families of the city and State. In 1825, he was appointed the ad- 
jutant of the Third Regiment ; and it was universally conceded that 
he had no superior of his rank in the army. At that day, lianh, \>o\\\ 
in the army and navy, was considered as placing its possessors above 
the Law ; or as Commodore Porter was said to have remarked, there 
was "no law for post captains." Against .this assumption two 
officers of the army distinguished themselves by their open opposi- 
tion. These were Major, afterward General Kearney, and Lieu- 
tenant Webb; and it was said that while neither of them ever had a 
word of dispute with a junior, they gave their injuiediate seniors 
a straight and narrow path to travel ; while by the strictest ad- 
herence to the law and the regulations they escaped all conse- 
quences which it would have delighted some of their seniors to 
have mflicted. But quarrels and bitter feelings were the natural 
consequences; and Lieutenant Webb was twice in the field, besides 
very frequently on the verge of personal conflicts. Dueling at that 
period was a practice of every-day occnrrenee ; and those in the 
army and navy, unfortunately, considered it a necessaiy part of 
their duty. Brought up in such a school, and when the reckless- 
ness and disregard of life inculcated by the war of 1812 was still 
exerting its influence, it is not surprising that Lieutenant Webb 
carried with him mto civil life the same princi])les and feelings ; 



IQ JAMES WATSON WEBB. 

and the recollection of this fact is the only a])ology we can make 
for the similar difficulties in which he has been involved as an 
editor. 

In September, 1.S27, General Webb resigned his commission in 
the army ; and entertaining the most devoted personal attachment 
t(» General Jackson, in December, 1827, he became the proprietor 
and principal editor of the Moniin/j dnirler. That paper had 
been established in May ]>revi()iis; but was about being stopped in 
December for want of funds to carry it on, when General Webb 
became its proprietor and made it a most efficient auxiliary in the 
election of General Jackson, his old friend and military com- 
mander. In 1829, he purchased the New York Enquirer from M. 
M. Noah ; and he found laboring upon that }>aper as a reporter, 
James Gordon Bennett, whose services he continued in the same 
capacity — Bennett occasionally assisting in the editorial depart- 
ment. At that period the press of New York had scarcely 
emerged fi-om the system of colonial dc}>en(lence which had con- 
tinued from the jieriod of the Ilevolntion. The ohl Gazeite^ Daily 
Advertiser^ and Mercnfttile Advertitier were the leading papers of 
the city, and the united editorials of the entire morning press, did 
not equal in length an ordinary leader of the Courier and Enquirer 
of this da_y. A row boat collected the ship news and the news- 
papers from the packet ships as they arrived ; and all were content 
witli transferring to their columns such news as was thus possessed 
by all alike. This did not correspond with tlie views of General 
Webb, or the activity of character for which he was conspicuous, and 
he very soon set up a ship news collecting establishment of his own, 
headed by the news schooner Eclipse^ a Baltimore clipper, and a 
fleet of small boats. This compelled the Gazette^ NercaMile Ad- 
vertiser, Daily Advertiser, Journal of Commerce, and several other 
papers to combine in a similar establishment — botli parties keeping 
a schooner cruising off the Hook, and small boats from time to 
time connecring with her. Webb then contracted with the late 
Isaac Webb, father of the present eminent ship-builder, to build 

364 



JAMES WATSON WKBB. 17 

Ilim a elippcr-scbooncr of one hundred tons bui-den, wliicli sliouid 
beat every pilot-boat and schooner in the harbor, or ho not be com- 
pelled to take her. Under this contract, the schooner Cotiritv and 
Enquire?' was built; and unquestionably she was the strongest and 
fastest craft of lier class that had ever been l)nilt at that day. 
With this schooner cruising from 70 to 100 miles at sea, and the 
Eclipse at the Hook, and a fleet of small boats inside, all opposi- 
tion was very soon put down ; and, in consequence, the combined 
opposition purchased the news from Gen. Webb at its actual cost. 

The necessary energy having thus been infused into tlie ocean 
news department, General Webb next turned his attention to pro- 
curing early and exclusive intelligence from Wiishington during 
the sessions of Congress. There were no railroads or telegraphs in 
those days ; and the mails then left Washington in the morning 
and arrived in New York in the night of the following day. Thus 
the Congressional proceedings of Monday reached New York on 
Wednesday night, and appeared in the morning })aj)ers of Tiiurs- 
d-Aj. Webb determined tliey should ap[)C'ar in the Courier and 
Enquirer of Wednesday ; and with that view made a contract with 
certain parties to run a daily horse express from AVashington to 
New York during the entire session of the next Congi-ess, for which 
he agreed to pa}' seven thousand five luuuh-ed dolhirs per month. 
Horses were accordingly stationed every six mi!e:^ from Washington 
to this city ; and many of our merchants still remember how regu- 
larly' the " Pony Express " gave them the news through the col- 
umns of the Courier and Enquirer^ twenty-four hours in advance 
the mail. 

Under this system of collecting the news, enhu'ging the paper, 
employing additional editors and reporters, opening correspond- 
ence in different quarters, and devoting whole columns ti; subjects 
never before touched upon by the press, the expenses of the daily 
press were more than quadrupled, and four of the old morning pa- 
pers died out. But a new impetus was thus given to the newt,i»,i- 
per press of the city, wliich has continued to increase to this day ; 

365 



13 JAMES WATSON WE&B. 

and for tliat impetus to an influence upon the public mind and tlie 
cliaracter of the press, the communitj are nnquestionably indebted 
to General Webb. 

In 1838 the first ocean steamer arrived at our wharves; and 
from that da}' all enterprise in collecting ocean news was put an 
end to, as the steamers brought up their news in anticipation of the 
news boats. And so with the "Pony Express" — the telegraph 
and railway completely disposed of that avenue of enterprise; and 
Voni that time every press has had placed within its reach the 
same means of obtaining information, without any other trouble 
than the expense of paying for it. The "Associated Press," there- 
fore, now does the work for all, and there exists no field for indi- 
vidual enterprise. 

It is no part of the intention of the writer, who has served nearly 
a quarter of a century upon the Courier and Enquirer — from his 
boyhood until he has become an associate in its conduct — to enter 
into any defense of the political course of General Webb, or to noti^^e 
the assaults made from time to time upon him. In furnishing some 
of the 'data for this notice. General Webb stipulated that no such at- 
tempt should be made, and that it should be printed M'ithout being 
submitted to him for review or correction. Inasmuch, however, as 
more than a quarter of a century has elapsed since, for temporary 
party purposes, AVebb was charged with having received improper 
facilities from the Bank of the United States, and as on a recent 
occasion the charge has been renewed, we give the ioWow'mg facts 
as they appear in testimony before a committee of Congress which 
examined Webb at his request. 

M. M. Noah purchased Daniel E. Tylee's interest in the Courier 
and Enquirer upon his notes indorsed by Webb for $15,000. 
These notes were discounted by Silas E. Burrows, well known in 
this city and still living. Webb had no interest in the matter ex- 
cept to substitute Noah for Tylee as his partner, and thus obtain a 
valuable assistant. Subsequently-, Webb and Noah applied to the 
bank for a loan of $20,000 to be reduced ten per cent, every six 

366 



JAMES WATSON WEBB IJ 

months, and Walter Bovvne, tlie verv liead of the Deniocracj in this 
city, and a director in the braucli bank here, recommended and 
urged this loan to his political o[>p(tnents ; and it was made. Out 
of this transaction grew the charge of $52,000 bribery, Webb was 
asked by the committee, — What interest had vou in the loan to 
Noah upon liis notes indorsed by you ? He answered, None 
whatever. — Who discounted those notes? Answer. Silas E. Bur- 
rows gave his notes at three and six months for them, which nutes 
my father-in-law discounted for Col. Tylee. — Where are those 
notes now? Answer. In Connecticut. Silas E. Burrows told me 
yesterday morning, that they were in his father's iron chest in 
Connecticut, and have never been out of Ids 2)OHsess'ton. 

It subse(j[uently appeared that on this same day Nicholas Biddle 
had sworn that he discounted for Silas E. Burrows the notes of 
Noah, indorsed by Webb, ten days after their date, and that they 
were then in bank 1 Tliis very conclusively proved that there 
was no collusion between Biddle and Webb, the latter of whom 
had gone from the boat directly to tlie committee, without seeing 
Biddle. When the committee reported, they added together the 
discount for $20,000, the renewal (ten per cent, off) $18,000, and 
the discount of Noah's notes to Burrows for $15,000, within a 
fraction, making a total of nearly $53,000 ! And out of this 
simple transaction, and this loan of $20,000, payable ten per cent, 
every six months, arose the terrible cry of $52,725 bribery and 
corruption. The original notes are all now iti Webb's possession. 
Webb had no more to do with the discount to Burrows upon 
Noah's notes than the man in the moon, or he would have bee7i 
the la^t man living to swear that the notes were then in Connecti- 
cut — Biddle having already sworn that they had long been in his 
])osses^ion, — of which Webb, of course, knew nothing. 

In 1838 General Webb challenged Mr. Cilley, a member of 
Congress from Maine, for misrepresenting this bank transaction 
on the floor of Congress. Mr. Cilley refused to meet him, on the 
ground tlnit he was not responsible for words spoken in debate. 

367 



20 JAMES WATSON WEBB. 

Mr. Graves, of Kentuckv, Webb's friend, inquire:! vvlietlicr lie took 
RTiy exeeption to Webb personally, to which Cillej replied — cer- 
tainly not, — but that he could not and would not be responsible 
for words spoken in debate. Graves reported the result to Webb, 
who agreed to consider the affair at an end. Subsequently, Mr. 
Cilley's friends, including Colonel Benton, censured in no measured 
language Cilley's ground of refusing the challenge. Graves re- 
lated to the Hon. Henry A. Wise, the present Governur of Yirginia, 
what had occuvred and the final settlement of the affair, when 
Wise told him that Cilley's friends would compel him to deny the 
ground of settlement, and urged him to get Cilley's signature to a 
letter recapitulating what had occurred, in a manner which was 
calculated to place him iti a very equivocal })osition. Graves 
adopted his counsel, and told Webb what he intended. Webb 
begged him to do nothing of the kind, as it was driving Cille_y into 
a corner ; insisting that he, Wel>b, being satisfied, and the matter 
disposed of, nobody had a right t ) meddle with or open it, and 
begged Graves not to heed Mr. Wise's advice, which could not 
fail, in the then heated state of the public mind, to lead to disas- 
trous results. But Graves said — " No, I am advised to do this for 
"the protection of my own honor, and I shall compel him to sign 
"this letter. It is my aflair I am attending to and not youi's." 
Webb continued his renujnstrances and his entreaties to let the 
matter rest; but all in vain. Graves had been told by Wise that 
his own honor required the signature to the letter, and he deter- 
mined to have it. Never was there given su(th thoughtless counsel 
to a highminded and honoralile man ; and the consequences were 
just what Webb had predicted. Cilley, who was a l)rave and well- 
disposed man, smarting under the censure of his friends for having 
simply done his duty in refusing to fight a duel for words spoken 
in debate, most peremptorily refused to sign the letter tendered 
him or to make any exjtlanation whatever upon the subject — se- 
cretly rejoicing, no doubt, at the opportunity of proving that he 
had not declined the duel from personal fear. Thereupon Graved 

36S 



JAMES WATSON WEBB. 21 

sent a challenge to Cilley by Wise. They fought with lifli's and 
Ciliey fell. Webb from that time to the present has never spoken 
to Wise, and has always held him morall}' responsible for the sad 
result, as also did Graves and all who knew the particulars of the 
alFair. In the Presidential contest of 1844 Mr. Wise attempted to 
make Mr. Clay responsible for the death of Mr. Cilley ; but Mr. 
Chiy called forth the statement from Mr. Graves which completel} 
exonerated Mr. Clay ; and in which he stated that after the matter 
had been finally settled, to the entire satisfactioji of General Webb 
and himself, Mr. Wise had induced him to dematid tVom Mr. Cillej- 
the letter that led to the duel, in direct opposition to the entreaties 
of Webb; and further, that Mr. Qlay knew nothing of the matter 
until after Mr. Cilley had refused to sign the letter, which Mr. 
Wise had counseled, and when the question of veracity had thus 
been raised, and a fight became inevitable. 

We abstain from any allusion to the steps taken by General Webb 
to prevent this duel. Suffice it to say, they were such as the cir- 
cumstances justified and seemed to require ; and which met the de- 
cided approval of his personal and political friends in Washington 
— the whole afi:air having assumed a party character. 

Webb's duel with Marshall is of more recent occurrence, but still 
the circumstances attending it have generally been the subject of 
misrepresentation. Webb wrote a severe censure upon those mem- 
bers of Congress who sought to repeal the Bankrupt Law before it 
went into efi^ect ; but expressly and in terms excepted the Wliig 
delegation of Kentucky from such censure, because they had all 
opposed its passage at the previous session when it became a law. 
On the following morning a Xew York journal stated that Webb 
had charged the entire Whig delegation from Kentucky with being 
bribed to vote for a repeal of the law ! Thomas F. Marshall, a 
member of Congress from Kentucky, and nephew of Chief Justice 
Marshall, saw this paragraph ; and, not knowing that it was an 
entire misrepresentation of what had appeared in the Courier 
and Enquirer, read it from his place in the House of Represent- 
24 369 



22 JAMES WATSON WEBB. 

atives, and poured forth a torrent of abuse upon the liead of 
the supposed offender. When this speech reached Webb ho 
promptly inclosed to Marshall the article in the Courier and 
Enquirer^ which had been so perverted, and, after reading him a 
lecture for putting faith in any thing that appeared in the print 
which had misled him (Marshall), requested of him to make 
the necessary correction on the floor of the House, in order that it 
might follow through the same channels by which his speech lud 
gone to the public. Webb and Marshall were unknown to each 
other personall}^ ; but had corresponded on political subjects — Ijoth 
being prominent Whigs, and friends of Henry Clay. Not doubting 
but Marshall would cheerfully correct his error, Webb proceeded in 
his letter to furnish full details of the political movements and Mr. 
Clay's prospects in this State at the approaching election — 1844:. It 
80 happened that when Marshall assailed Webb upon such insuffi- 
cient authority, and also when he received Webb's letter calling his 
attention to the gross falsehood of the information upon which he 
had acted, he was laboring under one of those attacks which irregu- 
lar habits at that time rendered of frequent occurrence, and which 
ultimately impaired one of the most brilliant intellects of the day. 
He took no notice of Webb's letter, and tlie Washington correspond- 
ent of the New York journal referred to announced that he did not 
intend to make any correction. This drew from Webb a peremp- 
tory demand for retraction, to which no answer was retui-ned ; and 
a very sharp article in the Courier and Enquirer followed. ]\Iar- 
shall came to New York to defend Monroe Edwards, the forger, and 
devoted a large portion of his speech to an attack upon Webb — first 
sending word to Webb that it was his intention so to do, and invit- 
ing him to come and hear him. Webb went and took his reporter's 
seat, directly in front of Marshall, and within a few feet of him ; 
and, when he had finislied, wrote a description of the speech and 
his opinion of the man. A challenge followed ; and the parties 
fought at ten paces in Delaware, near Wilmington. Webb's first 
shot passed under Marshall's foot, and his second just above his foot. 

370 



JAMES WATSON WEBB. 23 

Marshall's first shot was wide of his mark, and his second passed 
through "Webb's knee. When Webb fell and discovered that the 
joint of his knee remained perfect, he expressed his satisfaction at 
the result, and appealed to his friends to bear witness that he had 
declared his intention not to take Marshall's life, which had led to a 
threat on their part not to accompany him to the field if he persist- 
ed in his intention. Marshall's friend, who had caught Webb when 
falling, heard his declaration ; and a few minutes afterwards de- 
manded a third shot! This was not permitted, and the parties sep- 
arated, never having spoken to each other, and Webb never having 
seen his adversary except in Court and on the field. Marshall's 
friend wrote to Commodore Ridgely, of the Navy, inquiring whether 
Marshall was not entitled to challenge Webb again as soon as he 
recovered ? The Commodore replied, " beyond doubt, if he can find 
a gentleman willing to become the bearer of the challenge." 

This duel created great excitement, and the grand Jury foimd a 
bill of indictment against Webb, under the law which punishes with 
imprisonment in the State prison for two years, the crime of leav- 
ing the State with the intention of fighting a duel, whether such 
duel be fought or not. With one voice, and without distinction of 
party, the community cried shame upon such persecution under 
color of a law virtually obsolete. On being arraigned Weljb pleaded 
guilty to the indictment, as he could not well avoid doing, being on 
crutches at the time, and pleaded the necessity of the case with his 
avowed principles — principles which he had imbibed in the army, 
and Avhich belonged to his early profession. He urged in extenua- 
tion public sentiment, and even the practice of his Judfjes — a ma- 
jority of whom had violated the obsolete law under which he was 
indicted, and which had been revived for the purpose of gratifying 
personal and party hostility. He also showed by a document duly 
authenticated, and placed in the hands of a friend before he left for 
the meeting, that, having borne the character of one of the best shots 
in the army, he considered the life of his adversaiy at his mercy, 
but that under no circumstances would he take it ; that he should 

371 



24 JAMES WATSON WEBB. 

€re at liis legs only, and if hit at all it would be below the knee. All 
this was communicated to the friends who accompanied him to 
the ground, and who threatened in vain to withdraw from him if 
he did not change his determination. 

The Court, as in duty bound, entered the verdict of Guilty, and 
remanded him to prison. On the following day he was sentenced 
to two years' imprisonment at hard labor in the State prison. A 
deorree of excitement followed the announcement of this sentence, 
which has rarely been witnessed in this city. Confined in the spa- 
cious Grand Jury room of the " Tombs," awaiting the action of the 
Executive, his prison from 9 a. m. till lock-up hour at night, was 
a constant levee, composed of our best citizens, including clergymen 
of various denominations, who, much as they abhorred the practice 
of duelling, detested still more the attempt of persecution against 
the one who, while he freely exposed his own life in obedience to 
his recognition of a principle, yet had not attempted the life of his 
adversary, and that adversary calmly occupied his seat in Congress, 
unharmed, through the forbearance of one whose life he sought 
without cause, and who was now suffering for that forbearance. 
All classes were equally excited by this manifest injustice, and a 
petition with seventeen thousand signatures, embracing all that was 
estimable in the clergy, the bar, the mercantile connnunity, and the 
people at large, urged upon the Governor a full and free pardon of 
the accused. The pardon came in due time, and after two weeks 
of imprisonment in the city prison, General Webb was once more 
at large, never again, we hope and believe, to be involved in 
another affair of honor. 

In 18-iS, General Webb lost his wife, and he lias since married 
Laura "Virginia, the youngest daughter of Jacob Cram, Esq., one of 
our oldest and most respected citizens, who was a contemporary and 
class-mate of Daniel Webster and Lewis Cass, at Exeter Academy 
in 1798. 

In 1849 General Webb was appointed minister to Austria ; but 
in the following session of the Senate, that body refused to confirm 

872 



JAMES WATSON WEBB. 25 

him — Mr. Clay taking the lead in opposition to him. After eighteen 
years of personal devotion to Mr. Clay, General "Webb advocated 
the nomination of General Taylor for the Presidency in preference 
to his old chief — not from any want of confidence in Mr. Clay, but 
because he had inf )rmed both Mr. Crittenden and General Webb, 
that he would not be a candidate ; and they, in consequence, had 
come out for General Taylor. 

The political career of General Webb is too well known to re- 
quire any comment. lie entered political life from the army in 
utter ignorance of party men and party requirements, and acting 
simply from his impulses of right, he soon found himself as much 
at variance with his political associates as with his political oppo- 
nents. In two months after General Jackson's inauguration he was 
warm in his condemnation of hira for striking certain officers from 
the roll of the navy ; and being in favor of both a Tariff and a 
United States Bank when General Jackson advocated them, wlien 
the President and his party abandoned those measures and Jackson 
removed the public deposits from the Bank of the United States Gen- 
eral Webb openl}^ abandoned his support. He then aided in consoli- 
dating, and gave the name of Whig to the elements of opposition to 
the Democracy ; and no one man has ever exercised more influence 
in an}'- party than General Webb commanded in the councils of the 
late Whig part}^ of the country. And yet he has always distinctly 
avowed that he recognizes no allegiance to party, exceptjust so lar 
as the success of his principles are involved ; *and in fearlessly car- 
rying out this avowal amidst no ordinary amount of obloquy and 
censure he has frequently been found in opposition to his ])arty in 
refusing to support men wdiose political integrity he doubted. Thus 
lie has, time and again, opposed the gubernatorial, senatorial, con- 
gressional, and mayoralty nominations of his party when he could 
not approve of the selection, and when such opposition involved no 
principle ; while he has as frequently given his support to nomina- 
tions which he could not heartily approve, simply because grave 
principles were involved in success. 

373 



2{} JAMES "WATSON WEBB. 

He has latterly been charged with an abandonment of his oppo- 
sition to the intermeddling with Southern institutions by JSTorthern 
Abolitionists. But there is no truth whatever in the charge. lie 
is as earnest an advocate of the constitutional rights of the South 
now, as he ever was ; and as open in his condemnation of all who, 
under any pretense whatever, presume to assail them. But he is 
equally opposed to the extension of slavery into free territory ; and 
more especially when the general government, meddling with 
what does not concern it, and in violation of the Constitution, legis- 
lates upon a question which belongs solely to the States, and ven- 
tures the attempt to force the institution upon a people who openly 
avow their abhorrence of it. He has always expressed the convic- 
tion that Slavery is a curse to the master and to tlie soil upon which 
it exists, rather than to the party enslaved, in the regions where 
it lawfully exists; and that there the master, more than the slave, is 
entitled to our sympathy. Even pending the last Presidential con- 
test, and in the very hottest of the fight, when others were frequent- 
ly led astray by the excitement of the moment. General Webb thus 
spoke at Tippecanoe in Indiana to the largest assembly of freemen 
ever congregated in the United States : — 

" You have been told that this is a war against the institution of 
Slavery, and the rights of our fellow-citizens of the Slaveholding 
States under the Constitution of the Union. Bat a!l this is false, 
and known' to be false by those who make the charge. We ^war 
not against Slavery, but against its extension into territory now free ; 
and, if I know myself, I would sooner sever this right arm from my 
body, than stand before you this day, advocating any, the slightest 
interference with the purely local institution of Slavery where it 
righteously exists. For twenty-nine consecutive years, I have stood 
before the public the only responsible editor of one of the leading 
journals of the United States ; and during twenty-s(!vcn years of that 
time, the South have never had a more determined or zealous advo- 
cate for all their constitutional rights. And it is my pride, as it is 
my duty to declare, that, now and hereafter, they will always find 

374 



JAMES "WATSON WEBB. j 27 

in me, in nij press, and in my accomplished associates, the same 
devotion to their constitutional rights which has heretofore called 
forth their admiration and applause. But when Slavery becomes 
aggressive — -when its advocates cease to be content with its being a 
local institution and with the protection which the Constitution 
gives it, and aim to render it national ; when the slaveocracy openly 
repudiate the most solemn compacts, and, glorjnng in their dis- 
honor, demand that it shall be extended into territory now free, by 
the direct legislation of Congress ; when they shamefully boast of 
their violation of plighted faith, and impudently threaten to "con- 
quer" the freemen of the North and compel their submission; 
when they proclaim that Slavery is a blessing and not a curse, as 
they liave always admitted in times past; when they repudiate the 
sentiments of Washington and Jefferson, and ridicule the principles 
of the Declaration of Independence, and denounce it as a '' Rhetor- 
ical Flourish," and an abstraction ; and when they impudently 
threaten disunion if the North will not tamely submit to their impu- 
dent and arrogant demands — it becomes the duty of every honest 
citizen to rally in defense of Freedom, and sternly to decree that 
the institution of Slavery shall not be extended north of the Com- 
promise line of 1820. In so doing we shall not lose sight of our 
duty to our Southern brethren and of the Constitution ; and palsied 
be the tongue that would utter one word in derogation of either." ' 

In conclusion General Webb said : " All — every thing, therefore, 
depends upon the preservation of Kansas to«freedom, and adherence 
to the compromise of 1820. Abandon that great gate to the Soutli 
and West to Slavery, and you not only give up the whole North- 
west to the incubus of slave-labor but you abandon, at once and for- 
ever, Utah, New Mexico, California, and Mexico herself, when she 
comes to us, to the tender mercies of the slaveocracy. 

" Are you prepared for such a contingency ? Men of Indiana, 
and you of Illinois and Wisconsin, can you — will you, by a neglect 
of the most solemn duty which fi-eemen were ever called upon to 
discharge, become parties to so great a crime against the future of 

375 



28 JAMES WATSON WEBB. 

this vast continent ? I hope not, and I trust not. Remember tliat 
the institution of Slavery is of man, and has its origin in his vices 
and his crimes ; while Freedom is the child of Heaven, and was the 
great boon of God to man, whom he created after his own image, 
and but little lower than the angels, and gave ' him dominion over 
the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, 
and over all the Earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth 
upon the Earth,' but not over the limbs and thews and sinews of 
his fellow man. 

" Be faithful, then, to yourselves, to your posterity, to your 
country, and to your God, on the 4th of November next. And let 
your watchword be — Freedom^ Liberty^ Union. Freedom and Lib- 
erty^ one and insejparahle^ now and forever / and Union — everlast- 
ing Union among the States— for our own benefit^ and for the benefit 
of manlcind I and for the preservation of Freedom and, Liberty P 

We can not better conclude this sketch, already much longer than 
we designed, than by some reference to his liabits as a writer, and 
his bearing as an employer. It has been said by good judges, that 
General Webb will prepare more editorial matter for the press in a 
given time, and that too when surrounded by people conversing on 
diiferent topics, than any other journalist ; and this is unquestion- 
ably true. He writes rapidly and Mith very little correction, No 
matter how grave the topic, he rarely looks over a manuscript — 
never if he is to see a " proof" of his work. 

As an employer, few men enjoy such devoted attachment on the 
part of those by whom he is surrounded. His directions are often 
communicated with a prompt brevity indicative of his having once 
worn the epaulet ; but it needs only a cheerful compliance to win 
Webb's lasting regard. He is considerate and indulgent towards 
those who manifest an interest in his affairs, and exhibits a thouc^ht- 
fnl regard for the welfare of those in his employ, which develops 
the kindness and utter unselfishness of his disposition. 

A year or two since, a gentleman celebrated the twenty-first an- 
niversary of his connection with the Courier and Enquirer hy Siiasr 

376 



JAMES WATSON WEBB. 29 

tival, to which ]ie invited all who had, in any capacity, been his fel- 
low-hiborers in the establishment during that long period. Eleven 
persons met on that occasion, and their aggregate term of service 
on the paper amounted to two hundred and seventy -three years, 
Tliis certainly is testimony of the highest practical value to General 
Webb's character as an employer. Every one of the eleven felt 
and expressed sentiments toward him which it would be doing in- 
justice to denominate by any title less expressive than affection. And 
when in reply to an invitation which had been extended to General 
Webb to be present (he being then absent from the city), a written 
reply was read, filled with the kindest expressions of attachment for 
what lie termed his " Old Guard," there was not a dry eye present. 
Such was a tribute which any man might point to with great pride. 

In using the foregoing sketch, prepared in 1858, we are admon- 
ished by the publishers that our allotted space is nearly con- 
sumed, and consequently we can only allude to certain prominent 
events in the life of General Webb. We regret this the less, because 
we know that the General is preparing, for publication after his 
death, an autobiography which will include a complete history of 
the country from 1827, when he took charge of the Courier, up to 
the i)resent time. 

Such a history will be invaluable, because it will be generally 
conceded that no one individual in the United States was so inti- 
mately acquainted with our public men, and so closely connected 
with all political events of the day, from 1827 to 1850, as was 
General Webb. During that eventful period, he was emphatically 
a national politician, and left State politics to Thurlow Weed, 
William H. Seward, and other local politicians. Mr. Weed, who 
is still living, never meddled much in general politics until the war 
of the rebellion ; and when he did was sure to be defeated, as in 
the nomination of Harrison, Taylor, and Lincoln, all of which he 
opposed, while the nomination of General Scott which he accom- 
plished in opposition to General Webb, who advocated Mr. 
Webster, and Colonel Fremont in opposition to Judge McLean, 

377 



30 JAMES YVATSOX WEBB. ' 

who was supported by General Webb, he was disastrously de- 
feated. Por a period of thirty years, Mr, Weed was all-powerful 
in the Whig party, and for a great portion of that time he gov- 
erned the State of New York, and governed it well too, and 
yet it is a remarkable fact that no gentleman was ever elected 
President of the United States, whose nomination he did nut 
resist and strive to defeat. It can not be denied, however, that 
Thurlow Weed with the Evening Journal^ Horace Greeley witli 
the New York Tribune^ and General Webb vv^ith the Courier 
and Enquirer gave to William li. Seward all his prominency 
with the American people. The nomination of General Taylor 
was due in a large measure to General Webb ; who, without 
concert with anybody, and without the knowledge of his atso- 
ciates, the late Charles King and Henry J. Raymond, — both in 
favor of General Scott's nomination — astonished the public by 
formally nominating General Taylor in tlie Courier and Enquirer^ 
as its candidate for the Presidency. He then organized the well- 
known Taylor Committee, placing Mr, Hugh Maxwell at its head, 
and so conducted the campaign, that although the State of Neu^ 
York did not send a solitary Taylor delegate to the Convention, 
and under General Webb's direction placed on the ticket for Vice- 
President Millard Fillmore, who, with his friends, was in active 
opposition to General Taylor's nomination. It was a master-stroke 
of policy, and secured the triumph of the Whig party. 

In 1S56 it became manifest to every far-seeing politician that 
the approaching Presidential election would exert a momentous 
influence for good or evil upon the future of the country, as it 
would directly involve the question of slavery extension, and more 
or less jeopard the Union itself. The South invited and courted 
the contest; and it was doubtless with that view that the out- 
rageous personal assault was made upon Senator Sumner in the 
Senate Chamber, on the 22d of May, 1S5G, with the knowledge, 
and we might almost say by direction, of the very men who subse- 
quently became the leaders in the great rebellion of 18G1. 

378 



JAMES WATSON WEBB. 31 

Their treason was among themselves an established and recog- 
nized purpose, and at that very time, and even anterior to it, 
Jefierson Davis, then Secretary of War, was intriguing with 
officers of the army and punishing by exile from the sea-board 
all of any promise whom, he could not seduce from their alle- 
giance. 

General Webb was spending the winter in Washington, and, 
when the assault had been made, addressed the leading Southern 
gentlemen in a speech before Brown's Hotel, in language which 
they would not have tolerated from any other person. But they 
bore it from General Webb, because they well knew that while he 
was prepared to resist to the death slaveiy extension, he had ever 
opposed any legislative interference with slavery where it constitu- 
tionally existed as a local State institution, without any nationality, 
and with which the nation — the general Government — could not 
rightfully interfere. 

The North, which had so long and so patientl}^ submitted to the 
arrogance and absurd pretensions of the South, was aroused as 
one man by this dastardly outrage upon a Senator in Congress in 
his seat in the Senate Chamber, thus violating the sanctity of the 
place, at the same time that the Constitution was outraged, and the 
right of free speech openly set at defiance. Lai-ge public meetings 
promptly assembled in the jSTorthern cities and towns; and it was 
well known that the few Northern men at Washington who dared 
to speak of the outrage as it merited were in»hourly danger of their 
lives. General Webb's course was well known, and at the greai 
public meeting at Masonic Hall — the largest that had ever taken 
place in the city of New York — the late Charles King, then Presi- 
dent of Columbia College, and who fur more than ten years had 
been an associate of General Webb in tlie Courier and J^nquirer^ 
in a fervid and soul-stirring speech urging resistance to Southern 
arrogance and the necessity of the North being represented by 
fearless, outspoken men, said, " Thank God we have one New 
Yorker in Washington, the editor of the Courier and Enquirer^ 

879 



32 JAMES WATSON WEBB. 

who fears neither man nor devil ; but he should not be left to fight 
this battle alone." 

Some one of General "Webb's associates in the Courier and En- 
quirer, in a brief paragraph of six lines, spoke of the assault upon 
Sumner, as " a cowardly affair," as did the whole Northern press. 

When this reached Washington, it was determined by the chiv- 
alry to make capital out of the fact that General Webb, since 1848, 
was known to be a member of the Episcopal Church, and of course 
debarred from duelling. It was accordingly arranged that Brooks 
should challenge him, although their personal relations were of the 
most friendlj' character. 

General Quitman, a Northern man living at the South, a class- 
mate and personal friend of General Webb, was required to be the 
bearer of the challenge. Ho called accordingly and explained his 
business ; at the same time apologizing for being the bearer of such 
a message to his life-long friend, by declaring that no Northern 
man could live at the South without being more pro-slavery than 
the Southerners — that he was called upon to be the bearer of this 
message as a test of his Southern principles ; and that if he refused 
he would be compelled to abandon the South as a residence. He 
had stipulated, however, that another should take his place on 
the field, after he, Quitman, had made all the preparatory 
arrangements. 

General Webb declared that he held himself personally responsi- 
ble for whatever was published in the Courier and Enqxdrer j 
but inasmuch as he had written for publication over his own sig- 
nature an account of Brooks' assault upon Sumner far more offen- 
sive than the paragraph upon which the challenge was placed, and 
as that letter would arrive the next morning, and it was better to 
fight for what he had written after mature deliberation, instead of 
a mere passing paragraph written by he did not know whom, and 
he asked his old friend to do him the favor to withhold the chal- 
lenge until the next morning, under the assurance that it would be 
accepted and the meeting take place at five in the afternoon. He 

3&0 



JAMES WATSON WEBB. 33 

then added, " It may be that you are astonished at my accepting 
this challenge, knowing as yon do that I am a communicant in the 
church ; but ask yourself whether that fact, in your judgment, 
would or should prevent either you or me leading an army into 
battle in defense of our soil or our institutions? xlssuredly not. 
I have no personal dithculty with Colonel Brooks. Our social re- 
lations are of the most friendly character, and we dined together at 
Governor Aiken's only three days ago. This is a public, not a pri- 
vate quarrel. It involves the great and fundamental principles 
upon which our institutions are based ; and the duty of resisting 
this assault upon those institntions is quite as obligatory as it 
would be to resist an invading army. Consequently I shall accept 
the challenge immediately on its presentation to-morrow morning, 
appointing the meeting for five in the afternoon, and in the mean 
time I shall prepare my letter of acceptance, so as to render it 
manifest that this is a public and not a private aifair." 

General Quitman, as gallant a gentleman as any in the country, 
admitted the justice of these views. On the following morning, the 
Courier and Enquirer containing General Webb's letter arrived in 
"Washington, and it was far more ofiensive than the poor little 
paragraph which was made the pretext for the challenge. A 
meeting of the South Carolina delegation was called. The letter 
was read, paragraph by paragraph ; and, after a session of two 
hours, Governor Aiken was sent to General Webb to say that 
the challenge written but not delivered, on the day previous, was 
withdrawn. 

General Webb was in England when the Crimean war commenced 
and in daily intercourse with such men as the Duke of Newcastle, 
Earls Ellesmere, Kiissell, Grosvenor, and Granville, and Lord Pal- 
merston, the late Marquis of Lansdowne, etc., etc. Indeed, it was 
truly said that up to that time, he and Mr. Charles Sumner had been 
more cordially received into English society and English country 
houses, than any other Americans who had ever visited England. 
They were fine specimens physically, socially, and mentally, of 

381 



3i JAMBS WATSON WEBB. 

American gentlemen. The London Thnes^ always ready to abuse 
and defame the United States, pretended to have information that 
Russian privateers were being fitted out in the United States with 
the sanction of our government. This was exceedingly annoying 
to the English government, because its tendency was to derange 
commerce, and seriously affect the money market. And although 
the ministry had no doubt that it was a mere stock -jobbing slander, 
for which the "Thunderer" was well paid, Lord Clarendon, Minis- 
ter of Foreign Affairs, and Lord Palmerston, urged General Webb 
to write an article on our neutrality laws, over his own signature, 
to be published in the Times. He consented to do so, provided the 
Times should be made to publish all he wrote without change or 
omission ; and the late Charles Greville, Clerk of the Privy Council, 
was appointed to secure its insertion. The editor demurred, but Gre- 
ville, speaking in the name and with the authority of the ministry, 
insisted ; and finally the editor consented to make the publication, 
reserving to himself the rio;ht of abusina: General Webb. Greville 
consented, and the column of abuse with wliicli General Webb's 
letter was accompanied, only rendered more conspicuous his defense 
of our neutrality laws. It was a masterly production and produced 
a great sensation. At a later period of the war General Webb 
wrote for the Tivies^ at the solicitation of the cabinet, another let- 
ter on the same subject, and it was introduced with a very favorable 
notice of the writer. 

Although General Webb opposed the nomination of General 
Fremont for the Presidency, on the ground that he was not avail- 
able, and advocated the nomination of Judge McLean, who could 
have carried Pennsylvania and been elected, he entered very 
warmly into the campaign, and on the battle ground of Tippecanoe, 
made one of the most eloquent and effective speeches of the cam- 
paign ; so efi'ective that it was adopted as a " campaign document," 
of which millions were printed and circulated. It was considered 
at the time, and has since been alluded to on the floor of Congress, 
as the ablest argument against slavery-extension that has ever 

382 



JAMES WATSON WEBB. 35 

appeared. It is brie% alluded to in Mr. Andrews' sketch of 
General Webb. 

From 1S5T to 18G1, the Courier and Enqmrer never ceased to 
predict the rebellion and the duty of putting it down by force of 
arms, and of preserving the Union at all hazards, even if in so doing, 
it should become necessary to manumit and arm the slave popula- 
tion. The attack and surrender of Fort Sumter opened the war. 
At the instigation of General Scott, General Webb applied to be 
appointed one of the new major-generals to conduct it. lie had, 
however, charged Major Anderson with treachery in the hasty and 
uncalled-for surrender of Fort Sumter, after forty-eight hours bom- 
bardment without injury to the garrison. Kentucky was wavering, 
and Mr. Seward, frightened at the prospect of w^ar, and ready to 
compromise with the South, and guarantee the protection of slavery 
where it existed, suggested that to give General Webb a higher 
grade than had been given to Major Anderson, would be to ignore 
the policy of the administration, which had caused it to approve the 
surrender of Fort Sumter. General Webb was accordingly offered 
the rank of Brigadier-General. To have accepted would have 
made him the junior of gentlemen whom he had ranked when in 
the army ; and with the approbation of his friend, General Scott, 
he refused the appointment. Thus Major Anderson was made a 
Brigadier, never to be employed, and General Webb was ruled out 
of the service ; and all to save Kentucky, which, in lact, was in no 
way influenced by this condoning of Anderson's unwarrantable 
surrender of Sumter. And this was the result of Mr. Seward's tem- 
poi'izing policy. Seward owed more to Webb tlian to any other 
man living, except Thurlow Weed ; but from the day he became 
Secretary of State he ignored all past obligations, personal and 
political, and never hesitated to sacrifice his friends, whenever, in 
liis judgment, it was his interest to do so. Colonel Hamilton, in 
his reminiscences of Yan Buren, says, " on one occasion he was 
suspected of being true to a friend." No such suspicion will ever 
attach to the late Secretary of State. 

383 



36 JAMES WATSON WEBB. 

General Webb was then appointed bj the President and confirmed 
by the Senate, minister to Constantinople, without previously con- 
sulting him. Immediately on seeing the fact announced in the 
press, he declined the appointment by telegraph ; and liis name 
was then sent to the Senate, as envoy extraordinary and minister 
plenipotentiary to tlie Empire of Brazil, and unanimously coniirmed. 
He repaired to Washington and accepted the office, on condition 
that whatever he did in the discharge of his mission should be at 
once approved, or disapproved, and not treasured up to be acted 
upon at a future period. This was cheerfully conceded by President 
Lincoln, who, when asked for instructions, said, in his peculiar 
manner, " You, who, more than a third of a century, have be^n 
the editor of one of the leading presses of the country, and who from 
necessity, are familiar with European politics and international 
affairs generally, ask me, an Illinois lawyer, to give you instructions 
for your guidance in Brazil under the trying circumstances by 
which you are sure to be surrounded. I have none to give you. 
On reflection, yes. I'll give you instructions. Go to your post 
and do your duty." And these were the only instructions he 
received, except in special cases, during his eight years service in 
Brazil. 

When Louis Napeoleon came to this country an exile, in 1835, 
the first person witli whom he became acquainted, was General 
Webb; and from the time he left the country until as recently as 
June last they regularly corresponded. The fact of their friendly 
relations became known to the public through t]ie General's stanch 
support of the Prince, President, and Emperor, in the columns of 
the Courier and Enq^uirer^ and from the General's publishing a 
card vindicating the Emperor from charges made in JSTew York, 
which in fact had no connection whatever with him, but were 
based on the conduct of his cousin, also known as Prince Napoleon, 
and who was an haljitue of drinking saloons, and indulged in the 
amusement of smashing the street lamps, followed by a temporary 
residence in the Tombs. The Emperor had said, too, at Compeigne 

384 



JAMES WATSON WEBB. 37 

to Mr Seward, that of all his correspondents there wa,8 one only 
who not only wrote him the truth bat the whole truth. Conse- 
quently, when General Webb sailed for Brazil, via Europe, Presi- 
dent Lincoln requested him to see his friend, the Emperor, and 
explain to him the cause of the rebellion, our determination to put 
it down, and our ability to maintain the blockade of the Southern 
coast if not intefered with. They met at Fountainbleau by appoint- 
ment ; and General Webb's report was entirely satisfactory. The 
report of our minister in Paris, Mr. Dayton, to the Department of 
State, shows how important was that interview upon the then state 
of affairs. It took place on the 31st of July, 1861 ; and up to that 
time, Mr. Dayton had never seen the Emperor except on the presen- 
tation of his credentials at the end of March ; while, as Mr. Day- 
ton said, Slidell and the other rebel commissioners had constant 
access to him. 

From France General Webb repaired to London, and while there, 
spent a day with Lord John Russell at Pembroke Lodge, Richmond, 
and posted him up very thoroughly in regard to our affairs. 
Tlie General was well known to Lord John, who invited him to 
visit him at the Lodge for the express purpose of discussing 
American affairs. This proceeding was entirely voluntary on the 
part of General Webb, but he made a report of his visit and inter- 
view to Mr. Seward. 

Genera] Webb reached his post, Rio Janeiro, on the dth of 
October, 1861 ; and as we have frequently heard him say, he never 
labored harder than during the ensuing four years. All the English 
pirates that sailed from England to prey upon our commerce, visited 
Brazil, and involved a discussion with the government, which em- 
braced almost every conceivable question of international law. At 
one time the Alabama, Florida^ and Georgia were in the port 
of Bahia, and their officers feasted and feted by the Brazilian 
authorities. 

When General Webb arrived at Rio, there was no United States 
minister at the Brazilian capital — Mr. Meade, a notorious and 
25 385 



38 " JAMES WATSON WEBB. 

open-mouthed traitor, having run away from his mission immedi- 
ately upon the breaking out of the rebellion; and our consul, Scott, 
also a Virginia rebel, having preceded his departure by sending to 
the Confederate authorities a list of American vessels in port and 
about sailing, together with the value of their respective cargoes. 

The Hon. Eichard Parsons had arrived and entered upon the 
duties of his consulate before General Webb reached Rio. The 
consul reported to the minister, that of the forty-seven American 
vessels then in port, seven-eighths of them were Southern and dis- 
played from some part of the rigging the secession flag ; and ho 
was utterly without authority to pi-event it, as the government and 
people, and the whole foreign population, but especially the English, 
were in favor of the rebels and openly proclaimed and rejoiced in 
the fact that the American Union was destroyed. T'his was on the 
4th ; on the 8th General "Webb issued an order to the consul, to 
take the necessary police force and visit every American vessel in 
the harbor of Rio ; and if he found a secession flag on board, no 
matter whether at the peak, the fore, or in the cabin (they pre- 
tended to use them as signals), to displace the captain, break up 
the voyage and send her to New York under charge of the mate. 
And further, to grant no clearance in future to any American 
vessel, without lirst compelling the captain to take an oath of alle- 
giance, the form of which he then prescribed. This was the pre- 
cursor of the subsequent regulation on the subject. 

The masters of the American shipping in port were accordingly 
assembled 'at the consulate, and Mr. Parsons' description of the 
scene that followed is very amusing. Of course they abused him 
as well as the minister; when he replied — "I am only a subor- 
dinate, and, like yourselves, am bound to obey the minister. Why 
abuse me ? If you do not like the order, why not go to the min- 
ister's hotel and remonstrate ? " One of the masters immedi- 
ately replied : " Oh ! he be d — d, I know him, and you might as 
well ask a porpoise to give you a tow as to attempt to change the 
old curse." 

386 



JAMES WATSON WEBB. 39 

The visit was made, no secession flags were found ; and ulti- 
mately every master, in order to obtain liis clearance papers, took 
the required oath of allegiance, with very emphatic hlessings on the 
minister. 

Generd Webb had knowingly transcended the law, and con- 
sidered himself justified in so doing. The administration were 
well pleased at what he had done, and caused him to be advised of 
their satisfaction, while unable officially to approve his act. But 
public opinion was daily growing stronger, and demanding the 
assumption of extraordinary powers by tliose in authority, and the 
following mail from the United States conveyed to the minister a 
formal approval of his conduct. 

We have said that public sentiment in Eio Janeiro and through- 
out Brazil was altogether in favor of the rebels. Among foreign- 
ers the English were the most numerous ; and of course, to a man, 
were jubilant over the assumed destruction of the Union. Ilis Ex- 
cellency, W. Dugald Christie, the English envoy extraordinary and 
minister plenipotentiary, encouraged and led this feeling, lie wa8 
a clever but most disagreeable man, who had at different times quar- 
reled with all his colleagues as well as his secretaries and attaches, 
and it was predicted that he would, of course, quarrel with General 
Webb. He did so. In his own house, not addressed to the United 
States Minister, but loud enough to be heard by him, he repeatedly 
indulged in the most offensive and irritating language, always 
predicting the triumph of the rebels. On one occasion after 
predicting the failure of the Union, he added, " the descendants of 
the Puritans must necessarily be inferior in courage to the rebels ; 
because wanting in the chivalry which pertains to the gentle blood 
of the Cavaliers." 

Shortly after, at a whist-table, Christie and Webb partners, and 
the envoys of Russia and Prussia their opponents — other ministers 
looking on, Christie was impertinent. General Webb laid down his 
cards and told Mr. Christie " he considered his language impertinent, 
and it was his custom to punish impertinence. Therefore if he 

387 



40 JAMES WATSON WEBB. 

ever again indulged in impertinent language or even looked imper- 
tinently at him, lie would horsewhip him within an inch of his life." 
Christie demanded an apology or a meeting. A meeting at sunrise 
was the response. Mr. Christie then recollected that he was a mem- 
ber of the anti-dueling society, withdrew his demand for satisfaction, 
and apologized for his conduct. He was recalled from Brazil in 
disgrace and turned out of the English diplomatic corps, never again 
to be employed. 

The Confederate privateers — pirates in fact — gave General Webb 
full employment ; and he early proclaimed in Brazil that England 
would be required to pay for all the injuries inflicted by the Ala- 
lama. We quote from a dispatch dated Kio, May 7, 1863 : — 

*•' The English steamer also brouglit me dispatches from our con- 
suls at Pernambuco and Bahia, copies of which I inclose marked 1 
and 2. These came to hand by the second delivery on Monday 
evening just as I was going to a diplomatic dinner given by the 
minister of Prussia to the late Internuncio of the Pope, who leaves 
here in consequence of being promoted to Nuncio at Yienna ; and to 
whom I gave a complimentary dinner, including every member of 
the diplomatic corps, last week, liis leaving here making me senior, 
and the honor and the exj}ense of such an entertainment having be- 
come a duty. 

" Naturally at the dinner at M. d'Eichman's, which was a very 
splendid affair, the doings of the Alabama, at Fernando delSToronha 
and in Brazilian waters, were discussed ; wlien I took occasion to say, 
that while the disgrace, if disgrace there was, in having our com- 
merce thus preyed upon, was all ours, it was somewhat consolatory 
to know, that the expense and cost of the Alabama piracies would all 
fall on England. The English Legation laughed and expressed 
surprise at this, which I had said in a pleasant tone, and as if half 
in badinage, when I replied more seriously, that I was quite in 
earnest and sorry to see such a waste of treasure to be made good 
by England fur not having prevented the xilahama sailing from 
the Mersey, after we had furnished satisfactory testimony of her 

388 



JAMES WATSON WEBB. 



41 



character and intentions long before she sailed. It was reraavked 
that the English government had tried to stop her, but failed 
by reason of the illness of the law officer of the crown and the 
delay created by that illness. I said, ' Precisely so ; but therein 
consists England's responsibility. We discharged our whole duty, 
and at so early a day, that there existed no difficulty in arresting 
the pirate. The law officers of the crown decided that it was 
incumbent upon the government to prevent her sailing, but for 
reasons with which we have nothing to do, it was not convetiient 
to decide upon the arrest until after her sailing. That is Eng- 
land's misfortune, and the Alabama is at this moment a pirat- 
ical vessel, preying upon American commerce, built in an English 
port, with English capital, manned by Eixjlishmen^ and to all 
intents and purposes an English pirate (I do not use the word 
oifeusively to England), because she was built and armed by 
and belongs to Englishmen ; sailed from an English port to which 
only she belongs, and has never been in American waters either 
North or South. " 

Shortly after Mr. Christie had been driven away from Brazil, 
English aiTogance- received a terrible rebuke from the American 
minister. Four rebel vessels in the harbor of Rio, sought to escape 
condemnation under our laws, by changing their flag in aforeignport. 
This could only be legally effected by the United States consul's 
being present at, and approving the sale. The vessels were adver- 
tised, and the consul was required to give notice that he would not 
be present ; and, consequently, the sale could not be legally made. 
The sale proceeded notwithstanding. Subsequently the Eiio-lish 
consignees got up another sale on tlie plea of indebtedness. General 
Webb asked the Brazilian court to prohibit the sale. In the mean 
time the British consul gave one of the rebel vessels the English flftg 
and English papers, in defiance of General Webb's threats of capture 
if she went to sea. The consul was obstinate, and the English elated 
in the highest degree. They had an English fleet present ; and 
England had never had her arrogance rebuked in a foreign port. 

3S9 



42 JAMES WATSON WEBB. 

So proclamation was made that tlie AlJee Grey, with English papers 
and under an English flag, would go to sea on a certain Sunday 
morning. The hills surrounding Rio, and all the shipping in the 
harbor were alive with human beings anxious to witness the affair, 
because the American minister had threatened to capture her; and 
lie never failed to keep his word. At the hour fixed, the Alice Grey^ 
in tow of a steamer, passed out of the harbor ; and shortly after, 
Captain, now Admiral, Glisson, who knew his duty, and was always 
ready to discharge it, steamed out in pursuit. He passed close un- 
der the sterns of the British and French admirals' ships ; and the 
Frenchman, to show his contempt for the English, stood on deck in 
full uniform, his band playing Yankee Doodle, and his six hundred 
seamen in the rigging. The Alice Grey never left the Brazilian 
waters, and after going north some twenty miles with the United 
States ship Mohican on her quarter, she returned to the harbor just 
before dark. Glisson remained out all night watching tlie entrance 
to the harbor ; and' when he came in tlie next morning, the old 
French Admiral was again on deck in liis uniform, liisband playing 
" See the Conquering Hero Comes," and his crew in the rigging. 

These things continued to produce a most salutary effect upon 
the public mind ; and Americans began to hold up their heads. 
Then came the cutting out of the pirate Florida, from the harbor of 
Bahia and when lying under the guns of the Brazilian fort. The 
excitement was intense and the British residents were rejoiced to 
know that the American minister was to receive his passports. And 
such was the intention of the cabinet; but instead thereof the gov- 
ernment was content with demanding explanations. A rapid in- 
terchange of notes took place ; and on the following morning, the 
correspondence was published, and General Webb and suite at- 
tended the marriage of Count d'Eu to the Princess Imperial of 
Brazil. From General Webb's note to the Minister of Foreign 
Aflfairs we extract the following : — 

"Beyond all peradventure, the object of Great Britian in recog- 
nizing as belligerents those in rebellion against the government of 

8i)0 



JAMES WATSON WEBB. .j.3 

the United States, was, if we take her leading press and tlio speeches 
of many of her statesmen, in and out of Parliament, as exponents of 
her purpose, to accomplish by indirect means what she did not deem 
it prudent to attempt by a more manly course. She had just as 
much right to declare our government destroyed and the Union 
broken up by a recognition of the sovereignty and independence of 
our rebels within two weeks after hearing of the rebellion, as she 
had to give them, by proclamation, the riglits of belligerents. But 
she wanted the manliness to do this in the face of Europe and the 
just indignation which she would thereby have brought upon her- 
self; and she therefore, in the exercise of her discretion, resorted 
to a measure which she well knew was a easus helli, but which 
she foresaw we were not in a position to treat as such ; and the con- 
sequence of which, she had a right to suppose, as did our rebels, 
would eventually be a disruption of the great American Republic." 
■5{- ***** -K- 

" Entertaining these sentiments and feelings towards Brazil, it will 
be a source of unfeigned grief, and of very sincere regret to tlie gov- 
ernment of the United States, to learn that a commander in her 
navy, without instruGtions or autJiority of any Jcind, should have 
taken upon himself the responsibility of capturing one of the pirat- 
ical cruisers of our rebels while lying in the harbor of Bahia ; and 
the undersigned feels authorized to assure your Excellency, that 
every reparation which honor and justice demand will be most 
frankly tendered ; more frankly and more promptly than if the same 
act had been committed by an American cruiser in the waters of 
the most powerful maritime nations of the world. But in so doing, 
the government of the United States will undoubtedly make the 
am^ende honorable nuder j}rotest. She will tell Brazil that she denies 
in toto the right of any nation or nations, immediately upon the 
breaking out of a rebellion in the dominions of a friendly power — 
without inquiry or investigation of any kind, and witliout knowledge 
of, or even pretending to know, the merits of the quarrel ; to declare 
such rebels a belligerent power — and, by proclamation, make them 

391 



4.4 JAMES WATSON WEBB. 

in the ports of tlio world, the equals of the nation against wliicli 
they are in rebellion. She will insist, that until their nationality 
is recognized, they can not invest their armed vessels with the na- 
tionality necessary to set forth a vessel of vi^ar, and she will insist that 
all such vessels too are no more or no less than Pirates. She will 
proclaim, as heretofore, that a vessel built in. an English port by 
English artisans and with English funds ; armed and equipped by 
Englishmen', with Englishmen to man and fight her; sailing from 
an English port under English colors, with the avowed purpose of 
preying upon and destroying the commerce of a friendly Power 
which happens to be her naval and commercial rival, and which 
does so prey upon and destroy the commerce of the friendly power 
under the ridiculous plea tliat she is a vessel of war belonging to 
the rebels — without ever having visited a rebel port — is a Pirate, 
and that the nation whose commerce she molests, has a right, ac- 
cording to every principle of equity and justice which obtains 
among civilized and Christian communities, to pursue and destroy 
her in any port and any harbor of the world." 

For twenty years the claims of the people of the United States 
upon the government of Brazil had been ignored or treated with 
contempt. General Webb made a thorough investigation into the 
merits of these claims, and selected four, the payment of which he 
should insist upon. They were respectively of thirteen, fifteen, 
sixteen, and twenty-one years' standing; and they were all paid; 
but not until on two occasions a suspension of diplomatic inter- 
course was threatened. In the case of the Canada, a clnim of thir- 
teen years' standing. General Webb actually suspended diplomatic 
relations with Brazil and demanded his passports. They were sent ; 
but at the last moment Brazil repented, apologized, and withdrew 
the oiFensive dispatch. The claim has since been referred to the 
British minister in Washington, who has rendered an award for the 
whole amount claimed ; and it has been paid by the Brazilian 
government. 

On two other occasions, General Webb was constrained to threat- 

392 



JAMES WATSON WEBB. . 45 

en to close his mission unless the Brazilian government did its 
duty. Mr. Washburn, our minister to Paraguay, returning to his 
mission after a leave of absence, was prohibited by the Brazilian 
commander-in-chief from returning through the line of blockade 
on the Paraguay. The American Admiral, Godon, countenanced 
the proceeding of the Brazilian official. General Webb was absent 
on furlough ; and when he returned to Kio and discovered that 
Mr. Washburn had been kept away from his post for nearly a 
year by the impudence of the Brazilian commandant and the 
subserviency of an American admiral, he gave the Brazilian 
Minister of Foreign Affairs just four hours to decide, M'hether he 
would send him an order for Mr. Washburn to pass their lines 
or his passports. The order, and not the passports, came. At 
the expiration of two years Mr. Washburn's position in Paraguay 
became so dangerous, that our government ordered Admiral Davis 
to detach a gun-boat from the squadron on the Brazil station, 
to go to Asuncion and bring Mr. Washburn and family from 
Paraguay. The Steamer lFa,<^ was accordingly sent after him, 
and it was stopped by the Brazilian commandant at the block- 
ading lines, detained a long time, and finally sent back to Mon- 
tevideo. Mr. Washburn's position was one of great peril ; the 
Brazilian government was obstinate; and although General Webb 
had no instructions to guide him, he threatened to close his mission 
unless the Wasp was permitted to go up the Paraguay. The Min- 
istry, a liberal one, thereupon resigned. It was succeeded by a 
monarchical, pro-slavery, and conservative ministry, who again in- 
dorsed the orders of the Marquis of Caxias. General Webb gaxa 
them five days to reverse their decision. They did so b}' recalling 
their previous dispatch, and allowed the Wasp to proceed up the 
river. She arrived just in time to save Mr. Washburn and his 
family, who assert, that if the arrival of the Wa.<ip had been de- 
layed ten days longer, they would never would have been lieard 
of again. In the mean time Mr. Seward virtually condemned the 
conduct of General Webb, and said his conduct would be held nn- 

393 



4(5 JAMES WATSON WEBB. 

der consideration. But when it resulted in permission for theWasp 
to go to Asuncion, and the lives of Mr. Washburn and his family 
were thus saved by a diplomatic triumph on the part of our minis- 
ter, his conduct was formally and cordially approved. 

But the crowning success of General Webb's mission was an ar- 
rangement Mdth the Emperor Napoleon, on the 10th of November, 
1865, for his peaceable retirement from Mexico. We will permit 
the late Henry J, Eaymond, of the New York Times, to tell the 
story. 

From the Times of April 10, 1869. 

" WHO NEGOTIATED THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE FRENCH FROM MEXICO. 

"We have reason to believe that the withdrawal of the French 
from Mexico, affords no exception to the general rule; and that 
while seeming to have been the resnlt of the diplomacy of the two 
governments, and especially of the threatening note from Mr. Sew- 
ard already referred to, it was in reality accomplished in a very 
different manner and by an entirely different agency. Indeed, it is 
scarcely conceivable, that so sagacious a ruler as the Emperor of 
France, should have allowed himself to be forced into a step which 
he must have known from the outset was a political necessity, and 
which he should have accepted as such, in anticipation of measures 
on our part which would expose him to reproach and misconstruc- 
tion at home. Indeed, in view of the attacks which have been made 
upon him on this very point, it is a little singular that he has not 
long since set the real facts of the case before the people of 
France. 

" We have read the original papers, correspondence, and memo- 
randa relating to this subject, and may, at some future day, lay 
them before the public, — contenting ourselves for the present with 
stating that they show that the real arrangement by which tlie 
Emperor agreed to withdraw his troops from Mexico, was made 
by him with President Lincoln, through the personal agency of 
General J. Watson Webb, the former editor of the Courier and 

394 



, JAMES WATSON WEBB. 47 

Enquirer^ who had become personally acquainted with Louis Na- 
poleon when the latter came, as an exile, from France to this country 
from Brazil, in 1835 ; for whom he had cherished a warm personal 
friendship, and with whom he had maintained a constant corre- 
spondence. When General Webb was appointed Minister to Brazil 
in 1861, intending to go to Bio by way of Europe, he was requested, 
by Mr. Lincoln, to see the Emperor and learn liis views in relation 
to our then blockade of the Southern coast. The interview took 
place at Fontainebleau on the 29tli of Jul_y ; and General Webb's 
report to President Lincoln of that interview, and Mr. Dayton's 
representation of its influence upon his position was so satisfactory, 
that a great weight of anxiety was removed from the mind of the 
Executive. 

" General Webb next visited Lord John Bussell, to whom he was 
personally well known ; and by invitation, spent most of a day with 
him at Pembroke Lodge, Eichmond Park, Of that interview he 
also made an official report ; which, together with the message 
intrusted to him from the Emperor Napoleon to President Lincoln, 
removed all anxiety in regard to any interference with our blockade. 

" General Webb then repaired to Rio de Janeiro and took charge 
of his mission; and in February, 1863, when he learned that the 
Emperor of France had commenced his Mexican intervention, he 
not only urged upon our government the enforcement of the Mon- 
roe Doctrine, but he wrote to the Emperor, pointing out the grand 
mistake he had made in recognizing the Pviest P((rtym Mexico, as 
one to be relied on or capable of giving him support in his hazard- 
ous proceeding. He showed how utterly impossible it was, that the 
United States should ever assent to his proceedings ; and announced 
as absolutely certain, that the people, irrespective of the govern- 
ment, would insist upon the withdrawal of his forces from Mexico ; 
while the people of France could not but disapprove of a proceeding 
calculated to produce a collision with the United States. 

" This letter remained unanswered some two months ; when the 
course of events, and more reliable information in regard to the 

395 



48 JAMES WATSON WEBB, 

Priest Party in Mexico, satisfied the Emperor, that bis old friend 
had not deceived liim, but had related to him truths, which, most 
probably, he would not learn from any other source. Finally, on the 
22d of May, 1863, the Emperor acknowledged the receipt of Gen- 
eral Webb's letter, and with the utmost frankness explained how he 
was drawn into this Mexican afi'air, and declared his determination 
to withdraw the moment he could do so with credit, and without 
compromitting the honor of France. He also gave notice, that 
while it was his intention to withdraw, he must not be menaced. 
Any attempt of the kind, would so complicate his relations with his 
own people, as necessarily io jpi'event his withdrawing. 

" The letter, which we have read, is a very extraordinary produc- 
tion ; exceedingly friendly, frank, and creditable to the Emperor's 
sagacity and good judgment. General Webb very properly consid- 
ered the letter as designed rather for the President of the United 
States 'than for himself, and accordingly forwarded to Mr. Lincoln. 
The written pledge it contained that the Emperor would withdraw 
his troops from Mexico, whenever he could do so with honor, was 
accepted by Mr. Lincoln in the same spirit in which it was written ; 
and hence the lull which took place in our negotiations with France, 
during the next two years. After Mr. Lincoln's death, a new and 
less friendl}^ tone is apparent in our correspondence wath France. 
Mr. Lincoln's prudence, and his reliance upon the good faith of the 
Emperor, no longer guided our councils ; and in the autumn of 
18G5, the wisest among us apprehended a collision with our ancient 
ally. Such an event — a war with the most powerful nation in the 
world, in the then unsettled state of the country, and the derange- 
ment of our finances, was something too terrible to anticipate; and 
yet it appeared but too probable. 

" General Webb arrived at Lisbon on his way home, at the close 
of October, 1865, and wrote from Lisbon to the Emperor, announ- 
cing his intention to sail in a few days for New York, from Liver- 
pool, and inquiring what he could do in regard to the Mexican 
question. On arrival at Southampton, he received a telegram from 

396 



JAMES WATSON WEBB. 4^ 

tlie Emperor, urging liim to visit Paris. He went accorclinglj, and, 
on his arrival at the Hotel Bristol, on the evening of the 9th of 
November, was met by an invitation or command, to breakfast witli 
the Emperor at St. Cloud on the following morning. Of course, he 
went accordingly, and, after breakfast, spent more than two hours 
with His Majesty. The result was an agreement between the par- 
ties, subject to the approval of the President, that the French 
troops should be withdrawn from Mexico in twelve, eighteen, and 
twenty-four months. 

" It was stipulated by the Emperor, that our minister in France 
should know nothing of this arrangement ; and to guard against 
its becoming public by tlie action of our Congress, even Mr. Seward 
was not to have knowledge of it officially. And it was further 
agreed that if President Johnson approved of what had been 
arranged. General Webb should write to the Emperor to that 
effect, and thus prevent the arrangement getting into the 
Foreign Office of either country — the emperor pledging himself to 
announce the fact in April, 1860, through the Moniteur. 

" General Webb arrived here, after a stormy passage of seventeen 
days, on the 5tli of December, 1805, seriously ill with gout. He 
was prohibited from putting pen to paper on the subject ; and 
although the thermometer was but little above zero, he repaired 
to Washington the same night, and immediately made this report. 
On the evening of the Gtli December, 1SG5, Mr. Seward called on 
General Webb and informed him that the President approved of 
his arrangement with the Emperor JSTapoleon, and authorized him 
to write to the Emperor in his (the President's) name, and express 
his cordial appi-obation of the proposed settlement of the Mexican 
question. 

" General Webb wrote accordingly; and in April, 1865, the Moni- 
teur contained the promised announcement of the Emperor's inten- 
tion to withdraw his troops from Mexico. 

" Thus it will appear, that the Department of State had nothing 
whatever to do with the settlement of the Mexican question ; and 

3t)T 



f-,0 JAMES WATSON WEBB 

it is most unjust to jSTapoleon III. to permit, uncontradicted, the uni- 
versally received idea, that the French troops Avere witlidrawn from 
Mexico in consequence of the threatening letter from Mr, Seward 
to the Marquis de Montholon, which bears date December 6, and 
was sent to him on the 11th. As a matter of course, both in this 
country and in Europe, the public could attribute the withdrawal 
from Mexico, to no other cause ; but as it now appears that the let- 
ter referred to, was written after Mr. Seward had been officially 
notified of the settlement of this all-important question, and after he 
had directed General Webb, in the name of the President, to com- 
municate to the Emperor the President's approval and acceptance of 
such settlement thus agreed upon, public sentiment both here and in 
France, will do justice to the Emperor and vindicate him from the 
reproach of having been driven oiit of Mexico by any thing that 
could be construed into a threat. 

" It seems clear, from the documentary evidence which has been 
submitted to us in this matter, that as early as the 22d of May, 
1863, the Emperor in his letter to General Webb, declared that he 
desired very much to withdraw from the Mexican business, and ex- 
pressed his determination to retire his troops just as soon as 
he could do so with honor, and without wounding the sensitive 
pride of the French people. From that determination he never 
swerved ; and Mr. Lincohi died in the full faith that he would fulfill 
this understanding, and that the Mexican question would thus be 
settled. After Mr. Lincoln's death, the subject became one of politi- 
cal agitation ; and we seemed to be on the eve of a rupture with 
France, Mdien the personal relations which General Webb had 
maintained with the Emperor, enabled him in an unofiicial and 
friendly interview, to effect an understanding which would have 
been found much more difficult, if not absolutely impossible ot 
attainment, through the ordinary channels of diplomatic intercourse. 

" General Webb, from whom we have these facts, and who has 
permitted us to read the correspondence, examine the original tele- 
grams, etc., and to make public this statement from them, may he 

398 



JAMES WATSON WEBB. 5;! 

censured by some persons for having so long suppressed these im- 
portant developments, due alike to our country and Napoleon. 
But it must be borne in mind tluit General' Webb was an ofBcer 
of the State Department, and could not, without a great breach of 
official etiquette and a violation of duty, make any revelations on 
the subject until Mr. Johnson and Mr. Seward had retired from 
office. He has, however, never failed to vindicate the Emperor of 
Trance from the reproach that he was induced to retire from Mexico 
by reason of threats fulminated more than two years after he had 
voluntarily given a written pledge to retire, and after he had 
specifically named the manner as well as the time of his retiring. 
' Tlie Emperor,' says General Webb, ' not only carried out the 
arrangement made by him in its true spirit^ but when it became 
apparent that he must retire all his forces at once to insure 
their safety, and not by detachments, instead of fixing upon 
eighteen months, as the average of the time agreed upon, he 
voluntarily named sixteen months (March, 18G7), as the period 
for withdrawing.' 

" General Webb maintains that no official personage ever kept 
faith better than has Louis Napoleon in this Mexican affair ; and he 
asserts, what the public will be gratified to learn, that the Emperor 
was among the first who perceived his error in going to Mexico, 
and at once voluntarily pledged himself to withdraw as soon as 
he could do so without compromising the honor of the French. 

"It is scarcely necessary to add, that General Webb, who is now 
on his return to Brazil, has placed these facts at our disposal, to l)e 
used immediately after the fourth of March as an act of justice to 
one who has conducted himself throughout this affair with a 
frankness and good faith which are conspicuous in the whole 
transaction." 

Mr. Kaymond discovered that he had, most unexpectedly, called 
upon himself the denunciations of Mr. Seward's friends. They 
pronounced the entire statement /a^s^/ and Mr. Seward's organ in 

399 



52 JAMES WATSON WEBB. 

Auburn, gave notice that Mr. Seward was preparing a reply. No 
reply, however, appeared ; and Mr. Raymond was called upon to 
])roduce Napoleon's letter of March 22, 1863, which they said was 
a myth. General Webb was then in Brazil closing up his triumphant 
mission ; and Mr. Raymond patiently awaited his return, in order to 
vindicate himself from the abuse heaped upon him for having, as 
one editor said, "robbed his friend Seward of all claims to any 
" success in the management of the State Department. "We all l^no^v 
" that he perfected no negotiation with England, save the surrender 
"of Mason and Slidell; and that he left the AlaJjama question all 
" unsettled. If, then, he is to be deprived of the credit of having 
"settled the Mexican question with the Emperor Napoleon, and if, 
" as the editor of the Times declares, he did not even Imow of the 
" negotiation until after it was closed, and was in terms excluded 
" from any such knowledge, his position is I'ar from being an envi- 
" able one, in view of his threatening letter to the French Minister, 
" written, as is now charged, after the aifair had been arranged." 

Mr. Raymond ^.nxiously awaited the return of General Webb 
from Brazil. He did return ; but only to find his friend Raymond 
in his coffin, and in time to act as one of his pall-bearers. 

It having been denied that there ever was any such letter from 
the Emperor as that described by Mr. Raymond, and which he had, 
read after it had been five years in the archives of the State Depart- 
ment, we now, in justice to the memory of Mr. Raymond, give a 
literal translation of that important paper. 

NAPOLEON III. TO GENERAL WEBB. 

{Translation?^ Paris, March 22, 1863. 

Mt Dear General: — 

I received your letter of Marcli 8, and the interesting note inclosed therein, which, 
after perusal, I burned immediately,* according to your wishes, and without mentioning 
the subject to any one. Tlie questious you treat of, are very important and very delicate ; 

* This alludes to a copy of an official dispatch from General Webb to Mr. Seward, 
urging the application of tlie Monroe Doctrine to Napoleon, and the giving notice that 
his remaining in Mexico would be considered by the United States an act of war. 

400 



JAMES WATSON WEBB. 53 

atill I will answer them in all frankness. Ton are ejreatly mistaken if you believe tliat 
nny motive of ambition or cupidity has led me into Mexico. Engaged in this enterpriso 
by Spain, and led by the doings of Juarez, I reluctantly sent, first, two thousand men. 
afterward, the national honor being compromised, my troops were increased to eight 
thousand : finally the repulse at PuAla having engaged our military honor, I sent over 
thirty-five thousand men. It is, therefore, much against my inclination, that I am com- 
pelled to wage war at such a distance from France ; and it is in no way for the purpose 
of taking possession of the mines of the Sonora that my soldiers are fighting. But now 
that the French flag is in Mexico, it is difficult for me to fortell what may happen ; at 
all events, my intention is to withdraw as soon as honor and the interests now engaged, 
allow me. It would be wrong in the United States, therefore, to make my being there 
a subject of dispute ; for a menace would then change all my plans, which now are 
disinterested. As regards the war which desolates your country, I profoundly regret it ; 
for I do not see how and when it will end, and it is not the interest of France thac the 
United States should be weakened by a struggle without any good results possible. In 
a country as sensible as America, it is not by arms that domestic quarrels should be 
settled, but by votes, meetings, and assemblies. In Europe, too, we have many causes 
of disturbance — many grave questions to solve. For this purpose. Franco needs the 
alliance of England; hence my eff'orts have always been directed toward maintaining 
the ties of good under*tauding, often in spite of the ill-will of the English government. 
I have now sincerely explained my position to you; and in that way, you see, I recip- 
rocate the perfect frankness of vour communication. Be always persuaded, my dear 
General, of my interest in your country, as well as my friendship and the high esteem 
which I profess for your character. With these sentiments, I remain. 

Yours very aflectionately, 

Napoleon. 

We have thus grouped together some of the more prominent 
features of the distinguished public career of James Watson Webb. 
The restrictions imposed upon us in regard to space have necessitated 
a more concise and sententious style of composition than accord^; 
either with the dignity of the subject, or our own ideas of good 
taste. The memoir would have been worthier and more satisfactory, 
if we could have had more room. But the conditions of |)nlv 
lishers are inflexible, and we must bring our biography to a close 
by summarizing the principal characteristics, mental and moral, of 
General Webb, The writer has known him long and well ; has 
watched his course as the leading Whig editor of the country, 
for more than a quarter of a century ; and subsequently, while rep- 
resenting the government at the most important court on the Amer- 
ican continent, at a critical period in our national history. Plow 
he bore himself under circumstances of great difficulty and delicacy, 
26 401 



;54: JAMES WATSON WEBB. 

the foregoing imperfect sketch will inform the reader. He waf3 
the same outspolvcn, fearless, and determined man when officially 
guarding the honor and interests of thg nation, as he has ever shown 
himself in vindicating his personal rights. Of an ardent tempera- 
ment, in early life somewhat inclined to impetuosity, he is a lib- 
eral-minded and eminently just man. Sanguine and confident, his 
opinions were apt to settle into convictions; but his instincts were 
all on the side of liberality and fair dealing; and he had that innate 
sense of rectitude, that excluded the possibility of a dishonorable or 
unmanly act. He was always prompt to acknowledge and repair 
any wrong committed under a hasty impulse. He has a degree of 
sensibility and tenderness, almost feminine; and no appeal to his 
feelings of kindness and gen3rosity is ever made in vain. The 
brilliant successes achieved during his mission to Brazil were due 
in large measure to his idiosyncracies of character. Bold and un- 
hesitating, even to the verge of rashness, no apprehension of conse- 
quences, of any description, prevented him from denouncing iniquity 
and indire'ction wherever discovered ; and when he penetrated the 
insidious designs of the rebels, promoted as they were by the malign 
influence that dominated the court of Brazil, he threw himself 
into the breach, and bafQed and routed the conspirators with a dash 
and audacity that stunned and bewildered the government at 
Washington. Mr. Seward, naturally a timid and undecided man, 
frequently hesitated about approving the positive and determined 
conduct of General Webb; but was finally compelled by public 
opinion to indorse his conduct in every exigency that was sprung 
upon him. 

For a quarter of a century at least. General Webb was the best 
abused man in the country. Early in his editorial career he aban- 
doned the Democratic party for the reason that, in his judgment, 
the policy of the administration was prejudicial to the best interests 
of the country. For this he was abused and calumniated for a long 
series of years, with a persistent malignity and vindictiveness such 
as few men have ever been subjected to. But General Webb is a 

402 



JAMES WATSON WEBB. 55 

singularly self-contained and independent man, and he bore the 
reiterated assaults of his slanderers with a degree of composnre and 
indiiference, quite surprising to those of his friends who were aware 
of his hasty temper and general habit of resenting insults and chas- 
tising impertinence. Bat conscious of his integrity and tlie upright- 
ness of his motives, he submitted in comparative silence, conlident 
that he could live down the calumnies, and that history would 
ultimately do him justice. The result has justified liis expectations. 
Those who originated and repeated the aspersions upon his repu- 
tation have passed away ; and no man lives who would utter one 
word of reproach or disparagement of his character. General 
Webb is a man of unconmion tenacity of purpose, and infinite 
perseverance. He has rarely failed in any undertaking. He Avastes 
no time in unavailing regrets. In his earlier days he had bitter 
enemies and warm friends; the former he never pursued vindic- 
tively or ungenerously — the latter he never forsook or neglected. 
He never permitted his political differences to interfere with his 
personal relations. Calhoun and Cass, although opposed to him in 
politics for many years, remained his fast friends until they died. 

Intellectually he is no common man. Ilis perceptions are rapid 
and acute, and his mind has a grasp and logical power that placed 
him in a position of great advantage as a newspaper editor. Jle 
is a fine judge of men, and has rarely been mistaken in the selec- 
tion of his friends and confidants. He gathered around him in the 
editorial rooms of the Courier and Enquirer men of extensive 
acquirements and brilliant powers, but they were all subordinate 
to his will. He was supreme in the conduct of his paper, and 
always held himself responsible for what appeared in its columns. 
He wrote with great facility, and always with logical force and pre- 
cision. He understood politics generally, and personal politics 
specially, as well as any man in tlie country ; and there was a species 
of magnetism about him, that gave him the power to impress with 
uncommon force those with whom he came in contact. In the 
early stage of his editorial life, he had an inclination for controversial 

403 



56 JAMES WATSON WEBB. 

discussion, and excelled in gladiatorial contests; but he was always 
courteous and high-toned, and never noticed ribald assaults under 
any circumstances. Advancing years mellowed him down, without 
abating anything of his spirit or mental activity ; and he is passing 
the evening of his life, surrounded by troops of admiring friends, 
in the tranquil enjoyment to which a benevolent and kind-hearted 
man is entitled. 

General Webb has uncommon personal advantages. Tall, of a 
commanding figure and presence, time has passed lightly over him, 
neither dimming the brightness of his eye, nor impairing to any 
perceptible extent, the vigor or activity of his faculties. 

404 



HOIsr. JAMES I. ROOSEYELT. 



''^iEplIE distinguished subject of this sketch was born in New 
-s^Y^I York City, and is of Dutch descent. His ancestors origi- 
^ nally immigrated to this country from Protestant Holland, 
in about the year 1651, and were, therefore, among the first set- 
tlers of the colony of New York, where the family have since con- 
tinued to reside. This now eminent jurist exhibited even in 
early life the signs of future promise, and, although he -was then 
but a mere youth, entered the Freshman Class of Columbia Col- 
lege during the year of our last war with Great Britain, in 1812, 
numbering among his classmates, as well as later associates, the 
familiar names of John L. Mason, Professor Anthon, and John C. 
Cheeseman. 

Such was his application to study, that tlie second year of his 
college life he bore the examination, and was promoted to the 
Junior Class, graduating in 1815, at about the close of the war, 
after a pupilage of about three years. ■ He soon after entered the 
office of Hon. Peter A. Jay, with whom he studied law, and was 
called to the Bar in 1818, when he immediately entered upon the 
arduous duties of his profession as a law partner of Mr. Jay, com- 
manding an extensive and lucrative practice. 

The same year, Mr. Jay being elected to the Legislature, the 
business of the new firm necessarily devolved upon the junior 
partner, and again by Mr. Jay's elevation to the office of Kecorder, 
which was then a court of civil jurisdiction, the sph-^re of his labors 
became greatly extended, and so continued until finally succeeding 
to the major part of the business of his late partner, who gradually 
retired from practice, Mr. Roosevelt found himself completely im- 

405 



51 HON. JAMES I. ROOSEVELT. 

mersed in his profession, which he pursued with great zeal and 
success down to about 1830. 

During these fifteen years of j)rofessional toil Judge Roosevelt 
had applied himself more particularly to that branch of the law 
which related to questions in Chancery practice, and it is probable 
that he was the" most thorough Chancery lawyer of that day — he 
seems in fact, if we may bo allowed the expression, to have had a 
weakness for that class of cases, and he has ever since been looked 
up to by the Bar and his brother members of court as a " guiding 
star " on all subjects involving rights in equity. 

During the campaign of 1828, in whicli General Jackson received 
his second nomination for the Presidency, Judge Roosevelt took an 
active part in politics, and, though a warm personal friend of 
Clinton, he was an ardent admirer of Jackson, and supported his 
nomination and election at that and the subsequent occasion on 
which the general was elevated to the Presidential chair. 

The subject of our sketch had early identified himself with the 
Democratic party, and for several years was the popular treasurer 
of the Tammany General Committee, holding many a convivial 
meeting of his fellow-members, whom he regaled with oysters and 
champagne (as tradition runs) in his own mansion, then located in 
Park Place. 

In 1828, though still a bachelor, he was called upon to assume 
the responsible duties of a " City Father," and was re-elected a 
member of the Common Council in 1830. 

It was something of an honor in those days to hold ofiice under 
our city government. Kone but gentlemen of sterMng integrity 
were then tlie recipients of public favor. Parties were not drawn 
together by the "cohesive power of public plunder," nor were the 
primary elections or the polls controlled by " professora " of the 
" manly art of self-defense." It was an age when politicians pos- 
sessed virtues, and struggled for principles, not men — when politics 
was regarded as that part of ethics which embraces the discipline 
of a nation for the preservation of its peace and the advancement 

406 



HON. JAMES I. ROOSEVELT. 3 

of its prosperity. To this political school, not iniicli improved by 
the "latest fashions," Judge Roosevelt belonged and gave frequent 
expression to his sentiments by voluntary contributions to the ed- 
itorial columns of the leading newspapers of that day. 

In 1830, being much exhausted by his long and close application 
to business, he temporarily withdrew from the field of professional 
honor, where he had already won for liimself a distinguished posi- 
tion, and started upon a European tour, visiting the principal 
places of note both in England and upon the Continent, where the 
fates destined him to become a candidate for new laurels not un- 
likely to be sought after by haohelor members " of the best regu- 
lated families." 

He embarked from New York in a sailing vessel — sea steamers 
.were then unknown — and after first visiting England he went to 
Paris, being there during the commotions which followed the rev- 
olution of July, 1830, and was present in the Chamber of Peers 
during the trial of Prince Polignac and the other ministers of the 
deposed monarch, Charles X. The Palais de Justice, where 
the ordinary courts are held, was also frequently visited by him to 
observe the French modes of procedure in the trial of ordinary 
cases. Madame Malibran's divorce was at this time pending, and 
one of the questions to which it gave rise related to the laws of 
New York, the marriage having taken place in this city, and on 
which account it became necessary to consult a New York lawyer. 
General Lafayette, the friend of Madame Malibran, accordingly 
sent for Mr. Koosevelt, with whom he was on terms of social in- 
timacy, for his opinion of that branch of the case. The result was 
a liberation of this noted lady from the uncongenial bonds which 
had been put upon her, not by her own choice, but by her father's 
will. 

After spending several months in Paris, Mr. Roosevelt visited 
Rome, Naples, and Madrid. In the neighborhood of the latter city, 
he became engaged to his wife, the daughter of Governor Yan Ness, 
then American minister in Spain, and the sister of Mrs., now Lady 

407 



Q HON. JAMES I. ROOSEVELT. 

some reluctance he consented, but resigned immediately at tlic 
close of Mr. Buchanan's administration, having since led the quiet 
life of a private gentleman, and attained the age of threescore and 
nearly fifteen more. 

In his personal character, Judge Koosevelt is without reproacli. 
He possesses purity as stainless as when he entered upon public 
life, and integrity as unimpeachable as when first elected to oflBce. 

410 




51) 




/3- /3^^^^^^~. 



O) 



WILLIAM B. BEMENT, 




PHE world "witnesses many failures, but ability, persistence, 
and fidelity united, seldom fail. Circumstances may seem 
adverse. Disaster may thwart. Difiiculties may oppose. 
Disappointment may postpone. Bat real ability, bravely persever- 
ing and aiming always to do its best, is sure at length to conquer ; 
and obstacle, discouragement, unfavorable circumstance of whatever 
sort, will, in the end, be seen to have been only the stone required 
to whet the steel to a sharper edge, or the very condition needed to 
test aptitude, to develop resource, or, somehow, to give skill, 
confidence, and power. 

Illustrated in the case of nearly every man who attains to marked 
position in any calling, this general fact is signally illustrated in the 
career of the gentleman who is the subject of this sketch. 

William Barnes Bement is the son of Samuel Bement, a native 
of Connecticut, who went in early life to Tunbridge, Vermont, as a 
maker of wrought nails — cut nails being then unknown — but who 
removed in 1816 to Bradford, Merrimac County, ISTew Hampshire, 
to establish himself as a farmer and blacksmith. Here, on the 10th 
of May, 1817, "William was born. Educational privileges in the 
country were then limited even more than now, and, sharing in this 
common lot, young Bement attended school only during the winter. 
For the rest of the year, as soon as he was old enough, he assisted his 
father and an elder brother at the forge, and on the farm. But the 
bent of the boy's mind very soon showed itself. His play-hours 
were given to all sorts of rudimentary machine-making. Saw-mills, 
windmills, trip-hammers and the like were more to him than kites, 
tops, or marbles ; more to liim, unfortunately, than books, for in 

411 



2 WILLIAM B. BEMENT. 

his devotion to them he was often a truant when he should have 
been at school. The brooks and small streams of the neighborhood 
were seldom without some signs of his amateur engineeriug, as they 
were dammed to furnish the motive power for the rude products of 
his active brain. These were the blossomings of his genius, while 
the disadvantages under which he labored in the lack of tools only 
served to exercise and stimulate his inventive faculty, and thus 
proved valuable teachers, schooling him for his subsequent career. 
The experience thus acquired was the germ of much of the success 
of his later years. 

He remained with his father till the autumn of 1834:. Then, 
, with nothing but his head, his hands, and a single suit of clothes, 
to which should be added a vigorous frame, and the thorough 
practical education he had received in his father's shop, on the 
farm, and at his boyish mechanical diversions, he bade farewell to 
the homestead, and immediately apprenticed himself for three years 
at his chosen trade, with Messrs. Moore & Colby, manufacturers of 
cotton and woolen machinery, Peterboro', New Hampshire. Here 
his progress was so rapid that, within two years, while not yet 
twenty years of age, he was placed at the head of the shop, and, on 
the withdrawal of one of the partners, became, at the solicitation 
of tlie other, a member of the lirm. He occupied this position 
something more than three years, having his thoughts all the while 
much engrossed with machine-tools, and giving occasional signs of 
what he was to become, in the construction of several tools and 
fixtures which he devised for the establishment. But the period, 
1837-39, was one of much depression in manufacturing. The 
business of the firm was small at best, and, yearning for a broader 
field, he left. 

His next engagement was in Manchester, New Hampshire, to 
which place he removed in 1840, having meanwhile married Miss 
Emily Russell, of Royalton, Yermont, an estimable lady, who has 
lived to share his well-earned prosperity. Manchester was then in 
its infancy, and the Amoskeag Machine-Shop, in which he was em- 

412 



WILLIAM U. BEMENT. 3 

ployed, W. A. Burke, Esq., superintendent, was not yet finished. He 
remained here two years, during which time the second cotton-mill 
of tlie young city was erected. The machinery was furnished by 
the Amoskeag shop, and he built a portion of it by contract. In 
184:2, visiting at the West, he was persuaded by friends to take 
charge of a shop for the manufacture of woolen machinery, in 
Mishawaka, Indiana. But, having gone to j^ew Hampshire for his 
family, the night before his return the establishment was burned to 
the ground. The proprietors could not rebuild, and reaching 
Mishawaka with his little household, he found himself without a 
home, without employment, and with only ten dollars in the world. 
But he was equal to the emergency. Falling back on his familiarity 
with the use of tools, which he had acquired as a boy about his 
father's forge, he entered his brother^s blacksmith-shop, and at once 
adjusted himself to the situation. It was not a situation that satis- 
fied either his ambition or his taste. But it answered immediate 
needs, and enabled him, under God, to master the circumstances 
and to show himself superior to calamity — as the true man, life and 
health being spared, somehow, always does. Doing whatever he 
imdertook as well as he could, his aptitude and skill immediately 
became manifest, especially as a gunsmith. His work in this line 
attained such high repute tliat he was overrun with calls for it, and 
it shortly became necessary to fit np a room specially for the busi- 
ness. Thereupon an engine-lathe was indispensable. But where 
was such a thing to be found ? It was nowhere made in that region, 
nor could one be bought. He straightway solved the question by 
designing one. Making his own drawings and patterns, he soon had 
the castings, and the machine was put together in the shop of the 
St. Joseph's Iron Company, the use of which was granted as a re- 
turn for permitting the company to use the patterns to get up a sim- 
ilar lathe for itself. There was no planing machine within a thou- 
sand miles. All the working parts of the lathe had to be finished by 
hand, by chipping and filing, aided only by a common lathe and a 
vise. But the engine-lathe was at length completed, demonstrating 

413 



4 WILLIAM B. BEMENT. 

the ability of the young gunsmith to overco"me tlie greatest difficul- 
ties and to build machinery almost without tools.- The result was 
an immediate proposition from the St. Joseph's Iron Co. that he 
should leave gunsmithing and take charge of their shop. To this 
he agreed, on condition that the establishment should be enlarged 
and stocked with the tools required. This was accordingly done ; 
but when every thing was complete, and the enlarged shop was 
happily in operation, again the flames came, and the whole establish- 
ment was in ashes. But with characteristic readiness, and wnth a 
l^luck which the flames could not consume, Mr. Bement had the 
plans for another shop prepared by the next day. "With others, the 
day following, he went into the woods and helped cut the timber, 
and ere long a new shop was up and furnished, and he was once 
more in his element as its head. He remained here for about tliree 
years, constructing a variety of machine-tools, one of which was a 
gear-cutting engine— the first ever built at the "West, or used 
beyond Cleveland. It was considered a marvel, attracting much 
attention and adding greatly to the growing reputation of its maker. 
But at length he tired of the West, and longed for the stability'- of 
older communities — losses in real estate and the destitute condition 
of the country in respect to money materially helping to this end. 
Returning therefore to ISTew England, he again engaged as a con- 
tractor for building cotton and woolen machinery under his old and 
esteemed friend, W. A. Burke, Esq., who liad become superinten- 
dent of the Lowell Machine Shop. Here he first found some ade- 
quate scope for his genius. In the execution of his contracts, fixtures 
and machines of great utility were successively introduced. No 
sooner did a necessity become apparent than the tool or appliance 
demanded was planned to meet it. So ready in resource, so expert 
in execution, so entirely eqiial to every emergency did Mr. Bement 
thus prove himself, that Mr. Burke induced him to relinquish his 
contracts, and devote himself to drawing and designing tools and 
other machinery. This he did for three years, being also in charge 
of the pattern-shop. How serviceable his labors were to his em- 

414 



"WILLIAM B. BBMENT. 5 

ploj'ers, and liow creditable to liimself is attested in tlie steady 
growth of his reputation and the wide popularity of the work sent 
out by the establishment during the six years of liis connection 
with it. 

But such a man could not long remain in a subordinate position. 
Masters are not over-abundant in any profession ; and he soon com- 
manded the attention his ability deserved. As the result, E. D. 
Marshall, Esq., proprietor of a shop of moderate capacity, near 
Twentieth Street and Callowhill, Philadelphia, sought an interview 
with him, desiring to secure him as a partner. The opportunity thus 
offered to make his skill and experience more directly available for 
his own benefit, and to exercise his inventive genius untrammeled 
by the views or prejudices of others, was accepted ; and on the 3d of 
September, 1851, much against the MMshes of his employer as well 
as against the advice and protestations of his friends, he left Lowell 
and removed to Philadelphia. A few hundred dollars constituted 
his entire capital, financially ; but he took with him a range of 
qualifications and a standing in his business Avhich have proved 
to himself and his associates of far more worth than any amount 
of mere money, without these, could have been. But he stepped 
into no immediate success. Severe struggles followed — struggles 
which, however pleasant it may be to think of the victory reached 
through them, were any thing but agreeable at the time, A new 
business was to be built up, against many prejudices, against the 
competition of a well-established and prospierous shop, and amidst 
financial difiiculties of no small magnitude. But labor conquers : 
and by dint of industry, perseverance, and a high standard of 
workmanship, a most honorable though dearly bought success was 
achieved. As has been seen, Mr. Bement has always made it one 
of his principles of action as a workman, to do whatever he under- 
took as well as it could be done. This principle he carried into his 
attempt to build up abusinessof his own, determined that, without 
regard to profits, only work of the very highest quality should be 
sent from his shop, and that his establishment should not only be 

415 



6 WILLIAM' B. I3EMENT. 

kept up to every existing demand of tlie meclianieal comnmriity, 
but constantly ahead. In this, he lias been cordially seconded by 
his associates, of whom George C Thomas and James Dougherty, 
Esqs., are worthy of particular mention. The latter, especially, 
has had no superior in the foundery business, and by his eminent 
skill and carefulness in his department has contributed quite as 
much to the reputaticm and success of the establishment as has Mr. 
Bement in his peculiar sphere. The result is that the " Industrial 
Works," of Philadelphia, stand to-day second to no similar Works 
in the world — Whitworth's in Manchester, England, possibly alone 
excepted. The establishment is the largest, in its line, in the 
country. Its resources enable it to meet demands in any branch 
of machinery ; but its specialty is the production of tools and out- 
fits for railroad and locomotive shops. For such shops it supplies 
every appointment, from the most massive to the most minute. 
It is represented by its work in every part of the globe ; and the 
writer of this sketch may be permitted, without suggestion from 
Mr. Bement, to record here the testimony of the proprietor of one 
of the most extensive Iron Works in New York City, to the efiect 
that the Industrial Works unquestionably send out the best things 
in its line in the world. 

Mr. Bement's designs are distinguished for gracefulness of style 
and symmetry of proportions, subordinated always to strength, 
durability, and practical efficiency. lie has taken out but fcAV 
patents, and these but slightly indicate the range, or quality, of 
his inventive power. Numerous valuable improvements of his 
have been given to the public and eagerly adopted by his com- 
petitors. It would be easy to catalogue his inventions and improve- 
ments were it desirable; but, creditable and important as they are, 
Mr. Bement prides himself on these far less than on the character 
of his work, and on what has been its influence in elevating the 
standards, and cultivating a higher order of taste, in the profession 
of which he is so enthusiastic a member. Up to about 1848, the 
construction of machine-tools had never been made a specialty in 

416 



WILLIAM B. BEMENT. 7 

this couiitiT. Eiicli inacliine-sliop made its own according to its 
needs. Of course, cluuiainess, great crudeiiess of design, and an 
almost entire lack of taste and finish were thus inevitable. Many 
of the most important oj)erations of a shop, moreover, might ahuobt 
be said to have had no appliances suited to their demands, and 
others were accomplished only by awkward and extemporized ex- 
pedients. Now all this is changed. Tool-building has become a 
distinct department in the machinist's profession — a science of 
itself. Tools are furnished for every exigency, combining style, 
strength, and accuracy, with directness of movement and economy 
of power, while we have come to expect that each tool shall not 
only include every known improvement, but he a complete speci- 
men of skill in design, of taste in finish, and of eftectiveness in work. 
The whole tone of the " craft" has been artistically refined and ele- 
vated, and a well-conducted machine-shop is now, in respect to 
neatness, order, aiid completeness of outfit, a far different thing 
from what it was twenty years ago. How much has thus been 
gained in the interest of a progressive and scientific production 
and use of machinery, it would be difficult fully to describe. Nor 
would it be proper to attribute the change to any one man. But, 
allowing all that can be duly claimed for others, it is only just to 
say that, among those wlio have nu\de for themselves an honorable 
record in this regard, the name of no man stands higher than that 
of William B. Bement. And just now in the maturity of his 
years, with the prestige of the position he has attained, we may 
be sure that if life and health are continued to him, his fellow- 
craftsmen and the world will hear still more from him. 

At different times since removing to Philadelphia, Mr. Bement 
has had four partners. On the 1st of October, 1870, he purchased 
the interest of the last of these, James Dougherty, Esq., and asso- 
ciated with himself his eldest son, Mr. Clarence S. Bement. The 
business is now conducted by William B. Bement & Son. May 
its future be every way as honorable and prosperous as has beeu 
its past. 

27 417 



OHAELES MORGAK. 



,i.iJplIEE.E is no New En<2:lfind name wTiose oriirin in tliiti 
^^a>?| country has been more certainly established, whose 
^ ^ branching lines have been followed out through all their 
ramifications with more absolute success than that of Morgan. 
For this, those bearing the name are indebted to one of their own 
number, Mr. Nathaniel H. Morgan, of Hartford, Connecticut, a 
gentleman of literary tastes — a true lover of musty records, a 
genuine Old Mortality among the moss-grown tombstones and 
forgotten graves of New England, where " the rude forefathers of 
the hamlet sleep." 

In these United States, whose antiquity is but the yesterday of 
older nations, there are not many who can trace back their ances- 
try even through the brief history which the country possesses ; 
but though it be common to speak slightingly of the desire to 
truce one's pedigree, few Americans, we apprehend, are anxious to 
hide their descent from some one or other of the " Pilgrim Fathers " 
when it is clearly established. For this natural feeling, we confess 
we have more respect than reproof. 

The great ancestor of the subject of this sketch, and of others 
bearing the name who have made their mark upon their age, was 
James Morgan, a Welshman, born in 1607, who left the port of 
Bristol, in England, in Marcli, 103(3, and arrived in Boston in the 
April following; subsequently he settled in Roxburgh, and after- 
ward removed to Pequot, in Connecticut, now New London, 
where he lived and begat sons and daughters, and where he died, 
leaving behind him a good estate, and also a good name, which is 
better than riches. 

419 



2 CHARLES MORGAN. 

Charles Morgan is a lineal descendant of the seveutli generation 
of this Jarnes Morgan, and was born in the town of Clinton, Con 
necticut, in 1795. His life illnstrates wliat may be accoinpliohed 
by industry and steady perseverance, by energy and native courage, 
without the aid of inherited wealth, or friends to start one in life, 
or an education beyond the rudimental one common in l^cw 
England schools of two generations ago. 

At the age of fourteen he left his native village to seek his for- 
tune, and arrived in the city of 'New York, liglit of heart and 
lighter of purse ; engaged himself to a retail gi*ocer, and patiently 
went through the early and late hours, and the drudgery incidental 
to such a life, till in a few years he had thoroughly learned the 
business, and saved enough to set himself up in the same line in a 
small way. Success followed, as it generally does, good manage- 
ment and assiduity in business. He enlarged his views, began to 
import a little fruit from the West Indies, then purchased an 
interest in a brig sailing to that region, then the whole of her, then 
other vessels, until he became sole owner of a line of brigs and 
schooners trading Ijetween New York and the West Indies. To 
such a mind this su.?eess was but suggestive of ne.v enterprise ; he 
turned his attention from sailing vessels to steam, beginning by 
purchasing an interest in the steamer David Brown, and sending 
her to Charleston, S. C, the first steamer that ever entered that 
harbor from the city of New York. She was the pioneer of others, 
and for a number of years he maintained a line of steamers between 
the two cities. Success here again prompted to new enterprise, 
and he now commenced the running of steamers in the Gulf of 
Mexico, a department of business with which his name is most 
prominently connected in the steamship annals of the country. 

In 1835, while Texas was struggling with Mexico for her inde- 
pendence, before she had won it on the field of San Jacinto, Mr. 
Morgan, believing in the certain triumph of the Anglo-Saxon race 
over the mixed races of Mexico, determined to be the first in a 
trade which he foresaw must, in the event of the success of the 

420 



CHARLES MORGAN. 3 

Texan arms, one day rise to large proportions. He sent Iiis steam- 
er Columbia from New Orleans to Galveston, Texas, Galveston, 
now a beautiful and prosperous city, the Queen of the Gulf, then 
consisted of but a single house; there was no wharf at which to 
land goods, and those carried thither by Mr. Morgan's steamers 
then, and for some time afterward, were taken to the shore in 
scows, and thence found their way into the interior upon the backs 
of mules and other primitive conveyances. What a change has 
come over that region in the brief period between then and now ! 
The whistle of the steam-engine has taken the place of the howl 
of the wolf, and the red children of the forest and prairie have 
liere, as everywhere else, disappeared before the aggrespive and 
remorseless tread of the white man. Texas conquered her inde- 
pendence — emigrants flocked from the north into the new territory 
— the city of Galveston increased witli unexampled rapidity — -other 
cities sprung up on the coast — steamer followed steamer as the trade 
expanded, and Mr. Morgan reaped the reward of his far-seeing 
adventure. 

Discouragements, however, followed. The harbors of Texas 
were shallow and exposed, the bars changing and treaclierous : 
the steamers, then, from the lack of experience, were not so suit- 
able to the peculiar navigation as now, and their commanders less 
acquainted with its intricacies. Not a few were cast away on that 
inhospitable, because unfamiliar, coast. In rapid succession Mr. 
Morgan lost by shipwreck the steamers Perseverance^ Glohe, 
Yacht, Meteor, Palmetto, Galvestoji, Portland, Neia YorJ:, and 
Jerry Smith, on none of which was there any insurance. Adverse 
tortuue, however, did not shake Mr. Morgan's conlidence in the 
final result. lie built other and better ships in the place of those 
lost, as well as additional ones, as the business grew, improving 
each over its forerunner, as experience dictated, and adding to their 
capacity, speed, and adaptation to the peculiarities of the navigation. 
The regult has been, that for the last twenty years not an accident 
worth naming has happened to the line, and now the Morgan linet* 

421 



4 CHARLES MORGAN. 

of Texas steamers, trading betweeu New Orleans and Brasbear, 
Galveston, Indianola, Lavacca, Eockport, Sabine, and Brazos Santi- 
ago, are as well known for regularity and safety to the inliabitants 
of the region bordering on the Gulf, and to all Laving busines^s 
relations there, as the Cunard line to Liverpool is to the citizens of 
New York. 

Mr. Morgan also owns the line of steamers rnnning on Lake 
P on tchar train, between the cities of Mobile and New Orleans, and 
is at present the sole owaier of nineteen steamships, all iron sea-going 
vessels of a superior class, besides several ferry-boats, and other 
smaller craft. First and last, since he began, he has built one 
hundred and ten vessels — sail and steam — and is now the largest 
shipowner in the United States. 

Several years ago he purchased the railroad connecting New 
Orleans (at Algiers, opposite that city) with Brashear, eighty miles 
in length, wliich he runs in connection with his steamship lines in 
the Texas trade. This road he owns and runs himself. Its value 
is not represented by shares, and it is managed without the aid of 
a president and board of directors. There is, therelbre, at least 
one railroad in the land whose fortunes are independent of tlie 
smiles and frowns of Wall Street, and which has no stock to corner 
or to buy or sell in any way, short or long. 

In business matters, Mr. Morgan lias much faith in the one-man 
power. He has no partners to consult, nor boards of directors to 
vote on his plans, or the appointment of subordinates in the man- 
agement of his large business. But as he knows well that his own 
eyes can not be everywhere, he selects his managers with especial 
care ; makes them sensible, by liberal compensation and respect- 
ful treatment, that their efforts in his service are appreciated ; and 
then trusts much to theiV management. He knows the importance 
of the " right man in the right plarce," and under this systematic 
management he carries on his vast and active business, in his green 
old age, with an easo and facility, and a freedom from annoying 
care, unknown to most business men in the prime of life, with less 

422 



CHARLES MORGAJST. 5 

tlum a tithe of the busiuess he conducts. Mucli of his success is 
also due to liis personal qualities. Easily accessible to the poor as 
to the rich — seemingly always at leisure — of equable disposition 
and courteous demeanor — despising pretension, but quick to discern 
real merit— he lias gathered into his service a class of men on whom 
he can rely, and is thus enabled to maintain his extensive enter- 
prises, and enjoy also something of the otium cum dignitatc due to 
his advancing years. 

At one time in connection with otheis, he carried on, at the 
Morgan Iron Works, — a large property on the East River and Ninth 
and Tenth streets in the city of New York, — the business of engine 
building. Here the engines and boilers of many of tlie largest 
steamers of the navy, and of the mercantile marine have been 
built. At a later period, he became the sole owner of this property, 
which still bears his name, though it has, years ago, passed into 
other hands. 

During his long and busy life, since he left his native village, 
now over sixty years ago, neither the cares of business nor the 
smiles of Fortune have blotted out the memory of his boyish days. 
lie always finds time for at least an annual visit to Clinton. lie 
has a warm corner in his heart for the spot where he was born. 
The friends of his childhood, now few and far between, are still his 
friends, as are the children of such of them as have passed away. 
Ab is so commonly the case with old men, the home feeling grows 
stronger as the shadows lengthen in the evening of life. 

" As Uio hare, when hoimds and horns pursue, 
Pauts to the phioe from whence ;it first she flew." 

Nor is his regard for his native place a mere feeling of sentimen- 
tality. Kecently he has purchased a plot of ground in the villai;;e, 
put it into the hands of trustees, at whose disposal he has ah-.o 
placed, for the erection of a school-house thereon, a large sum of 
money, more than ample to rear a building of abundant dimen- 
sions and ornamental design, surpassing the ambition of the good 
people of Clinton. 



n 





^^-^s^-^.^ 



Z'- 



'^.^ ,r^r.^^ 



PHILIP PHILLIPS. 

AUTHOR, FJBLISHER, AND CHRISTIAN VOCALIST. 

PHE individual is truly an exception, both in Europe and 
America, who has not listened to the wonderful soul-sing- 
ing of Philip Phillips, of New York, known by the title of 
the Singing Pilgrim, or has not known of him through the millions 
of his publications, or read of him in the columns of the journals 
of both countries. 

In the fourteen years in which he has publicly appeared as a 
sacred musician, combining the rare qualities of the popular com- 
poser and popular singer in one and the same person, he has sung 
the Gospel into the hearts of many thousands of weeping listeners 
with signal power and pathos, and in his particular field of Chris- 
tian labor is universally admitted to be without a compeer on either , 
continent. God gives us all peculiar talent for his service, but on 
none that we have ever heard has he bestowed tlmt of which Mr. 
Phillips is possessed, — of sacred song, full of winning exhortation, 
warning, and comfort, the faculty of unexcelled musical composition 
for the Church, tlie Sabbath-School, and the Household, combined 
with such earnest and unwearied consecration of these gifts to the 
advancement of his kingdom. 

Philip Phillips was born in Chautauqua County, New York, 
August 13, 1834. At the age of thirteen years he gave his heart 
to Jesus and has never departed from the faith. When but eight 
years old his beloved and pious mother was removed by death, 
which loss has given a coloring of sadness to his whole life. His 
father was a respected and industrious artisan, a man of large 
family and of but moderate means, and as a necessary consequence 
of the latter, young Philip knew what it was to struggle with hard- 
ships. After the death of his mother, at his own request he was 

425 



2 PHILIP PHILLIPS. 

.ippreiiticed to a farmer until Le should attain tlic age of tweutj- 
one years. Every spare moment from liis labor was improved Ly 
him for the study of music, and in his daily toil liis heart was full 
of song. Thus, unaided and without teachers, he mastered the fun- 
damental rudiments of the science, afterward completing his 
musical education with the celebrated Dr. Lowell Mason and other 
eminent teachers in charge of the Normal Musical Institute. 
Two years before the death of his employer, which released him 
from hi-3 indentures, he was permitted to devote his whole time to 
the teaching and study of music, returning his pecuniary earnings 
to that gentleman, which of themselves were sufficient to till Philip's 
place upon the farm threefold. At the age of seventeen he first 
entered upon the public service of sacred song, to which depart- 
ment of musical literature he had so long and so devotedly 
applied himself, and received over sixty dollars as the profits of his 
first concert. The emotional hymns of Chaiies Wesley were his 
favorites, and in them he seemed to find all that he needed to give 
expression to the joy and rapture of the budding gift of future song- 
worship germinating in his soul. 

From holding musical conventions, singing before large Christian 
gatherings, Sabbath-school assemblies, etc., his attainments soon 
came to be widely known to the Methodist Church, of which body 
he is a member, and since that time to the present he has been 
constantly engaged in giving his "Evenings of Sacred Song" by 
special invitation in nearly every State in the Union. Of vrarm 
sympathies, of ardent enthusiastic piety, he has all through these 
years more than divided his income with indigent churches of all 
denominations, freely giving his time, talents, and means for the 
advancement of the interests of Christianity. To every call for 
help he has responded with alacrity, gone about cheering the sick 
and wounded in the hospitals and ministering to poverty until the 
measure of his charities and benevolence will never be comi:)uted 
this side the grave. 

Mr. Phillips is a man of rare bodily endurance and energy; other- 

426 



PHILIP PHILLIPS. 3 

v,he his Indefatigable labors and arduous toil would liav^i lo^£ 
since incapacitated liim from the })nrsuit of his peculiar mission. 
In fact his whole make-up renders him untiring in the work to 
which he has devoted himself. There is not a grain of idleness in his 
composition; his every waking hour is full of employment for him. 
Phrenologists say of him that he will not only accomplish his own 
full allotment of labor, ])ut at the same time lay out work enough 
to keep ten men in constant employment. Singing before an 
audience after a fatiguing railroad or stage ride of fifty or a hundred 
miles a day, the coming morning again finds him seated in the 
public conveyance, busily engaged with book and pencil in hand 
either in musical or literary composition, or in business calculations, 
which are only put aside on arrival at his place of destination. 

He is small in stature, and fragile in build. He has dark hair, a 
sharp eye, his face is pale, and liis whttle countenance bears the 
expression that old painters liked to catch so well, when they put 
on canvas the face of one truly devoted to Christ and good works. 
His heart is so plainly in his work, his manner so open and free from 
cant, that both old and young recognize in him a warm-hearted 
Christian, rather than the musical artist, and are drawn toward 
him in sympathetic bonds of love, even before his lips utter a single 
note of his songs for Jesus. His face bears the impress of every 
phase of his song-worship, beaming forth love, hope, faith, joy, sor- 
row, affliction, trouble, and triuinj.)h, in swift accord to the subject 
of his song. His voice is a rich, clear, melodious baritone, and, 
unlike every other public singer, every word he uttei's, be its tone 
high or low, falls with full distinctness )i])on his auditory. En- 
trancing sweetness leads captive the listener to the sentiment of the 
song, and not the execution, as his voice grows soft and pathetic, 
and one wishes those ravishing, plaintive minor tones may nevet ' 
end, suddenly to be electrified with a volume of melody which 
would fill the largest cathedral to its inmost recess, astonishing in 
its distinctness and power, as Philip Phillips gives utterance to 
the grand diapason of his soul. 

427 



4 PHILIP PHILLIPS. 

Soated at Siiiitirs American organ, his favorite instrumoiit, lie 
sings and sjieaks for Clirist for at least two hundred and fiftj even- 
ii)g6 of each year, with singular effectiveness. It matters not 
whether his audience he composed of the elite of New York in its 
Academj of Music, or the roughs and magdalens of the Mission 
Rooms on Water Street; the magnates of the nation in the halls of 
Congress, the aristocratic city, or the humble country church, he 
moves their souls alike with his beautiful Christian songs, even as 
the leaves of autumn are moved l)y the strong wincKs of heaven ; 
and they follow him in their emotions us a ti-iumphant leader, eyes 
filling with sympathetic and repentant tears, hearts thrilling and 
throbbing with holy joys, while in their souls are born new desires 
and resolutions for the attainment of tliat better land wliere the 
redeemed shall more sweetly sing the praises of the Lamb through 
the eternity of years. 

Ilolding his residence for a few years in Ohio (mostly at Cincin- 
nati), a State ever dear to him as the birthplace of his beloved and 
affectionate wife, in connection with his increasing labors in song, 
lie commenced the })ublication, in book furm, of liis famous sacred 
musical compositions, continuing the same to this day with untiring 
zeal and perseverance. "Early Blossoms," his first production, 
sold to the extent of 20,000 copies; "Musical Leaves" soon fol- 
lowed, which has reached a sale of more than 1,000,000 copies, and 
is still in constant demand ; "Home Songs" compiled by him for 
the Soldiers' Orphan Home of Iowa, all the proceeds of Avhose 
F.ale were contributed to the support of that institution, were sold 
to the extent of 6,000 copies ; " The Singing Pilgrim," a perfect 
and charming reproduction in song and verse of the world -read 
dream of John Bunyan in old Bedford jail, has already attained a 
publication of more than 800,000 copies, and gave to its author the 
fitting appellation of " The Singing Pilgrim," by which he is so 
universally and distinctly known both by the Christian and tlio 
secular M'orld. 

In 1806 he was appointed musical editor of the Methodist Book 

428 



PHILIP PHILLIPS. 5 

Concern of New York, and soon after issued under its auspices the 
new hymn and tune book, now in such extensi\e use by that im- 
portant denomination, and having for its title, '' An Offering of 
Praise." This vohime making its way into every Methodist Episco- 
pal Church in the country, soon procured for its editor a reputation 
as a composer and singer of divine songs, second only to the devout 
Wesleys, who were the original founders of tliis vast denomination of 
Christians. Removing to I^evv York, that more perfer-tly he might 
fulfill his new obligations, his next production was the "Kew Standard 
Singer," 20,000 copies of w^hich were ordered before the prooi'-sheets 
had been received. Previously, during his visit to Europe, he also 
compiled the " American Sacred Songster," for the London Sabbath- 
School Union, a work which, since his return home, has been univers- 
ally adopted in the Sab bath -schools of the United Kingdom. '"' Xew 
Hallowed Songs," published January 1, 1870, combines in its pages 
an adaptation of songs of praise for the prayer and conference meet- 
ing which could only emanate from the musical talent and expe- 
rience of its author, and which, in the few months since its appear- 
ance, has attained a popularity to the extent that its publisher is 
crowded with orders from all parts of the country. This was follow- 
ed, July 1st, by " The Singing Annual for 1S70," a work filled with 
entirely new and beautiful music for the Sabbath-school, and whicli 
has been edited by Mr. Phillips to meet the urgent call for new 
music from the millions of youth who are engaged in tlie study of 
the word and the worshi[) of Jesus in song. It will be issued an- 
nually in the same form at the commencement of each year. 

The first public advocate in America of Congregational Singin^r, 
Mr. Phillips, in his thousands of concerts, has devoted an especial 
}ialf-hour to every audience before whom he has appeared, in be- 
half of this only true worship of God in song in our sanctuaries. 
Urging its adoption with earnest exhortation, he follows his re- 
marks by leading his congregations in some familiar tune, in whicli, 
becoming impregnated with his spirit, they join with heart and 
Boul to tliat extent of voice and volume that a stranger might right- 

42y 



Q PHILIP PHILLIPS. 

ly infer that this was tlieir customary habit, rather than their firet 
experience. Thus, in hundreds of churches, from the eflects of his 
practical teachings, the choirs have become the instructors of their 
congregations in this delightful service, instead of those machines of 
artistic song, so destructive to the vitality of pure and earnest wor- 
ship. For the furtherance of this glorious effort he has also added 
strength and power bj the publication of the first journal ever de- 
voted in this or other lands, to the exelubive interests of universal 
Congregational Song in all denominations of the Evangelical Church. 
" The Singing People," a twentj-four page magazine, printed on 
fine paper and with beautiful typo, first made its quarterly appear- 
ance in August, 1868, and having for its editor the composer of the 
most beautiful sacred songs in our language, in its several issues has 
proved itself eminently adapted to its peculiar field of labor, and is 
obtaining a wide perusal from those who hail this reformation as an 
additional element for the promotion of religious health and growth. 
In the summer of 1869 he visited Europe, with a view of resting 
a while from his arduous labors, but the fama of his God given tal- 
ent had crossed the xVtlantic before liim, and his journey on the 
Continent proved an ovation of welcome and a tour of song. In 
London, Liverpool, Belfast, Dublin, Edinburgh, Paris, and other 
cities, his voice fell like gentle dew, and cast its precious ointment 
upon the hearts of vast assemblies in the Old WoilJ's tabernacles 
and vast halls of worship. Here, as at home, natural and tender, 
simple and trusting as a child, the electric currents of his soul per- 
meated his audience like a divine fire, and by unseen forces, with 
the outstretching circles of blessed song as instrument, singer and 
listener became leavened by the same inspiration, until they be- 
came as one in emotion. It is enough to know of the appreciation 
in which Mr. Phillips was held in the mother-country, that he was 
enthusiastically received by the entire press and people, and that 
the London Recorder said, upon his departure, " that he was fol- 
lowed home to America by the prayers and good wishes of tens of 
thousands of that land." 

430 



PHILIP PHILLIPS. 7 

The known incidents of the blessed results of" Mr. Phillips' sing- 
in2^, were they gathered together, would fill a volume of them- 
selves. Christian hearts have been wakened to new life and ser- 
vice; prodigals cast aside their profligate ways and sought their 
father's mansion ; the wavering made firm in faith ; the drunkard 
turned from his cups; the wounds of the sorrowing healed; the 
self-murderer persuaded from destruction ; the hesitating believer 
made valiant in God's vineyard ; the couch of the dying Christian 
made happy, and that of the dying sinner made glorious; feet 
turned from paths of iniquity to walks of peace; and visions of the 
Celestial City been opened up to weary and sorrowing multitudes 
of earth. 

Will it ever pass from history's page that just before the death 
of our lamented Lincoln, while Mr. Phillips was singing before the 
most distinguished men and women of the nation, in the Hall of 
Representatives in Washington, that he sent up this line to Mr. 
Seward: "Near the close let us have 'Your Mission' repeated by 
Mr. Phillips. Don't say I called for it. A.Lincoln?" Will those 
who were one evening gathered in the Effingham Theater, White- 
chapel, London, in connection with William Booth's mission, ever 
forget the song of Philip Phillips, " I will sing for Jesus," which 
caught the ear of a poor despairing man on his way to the London 
Docks to commit suicide, and reminding him of a mother's prayers 
and praise in his early days, brought hiin contrite to the feet of the 
Saviour ? 

Will that pool of wickedness in New York, called Water 
Street, ever forget the sermon of song by Mr. Phillips, given under 
the ■auspices of the Christian Mission in that locality in the dog- 
pit of Kit Barns, which, by the power of the Holy Spirit, caused 
full fort)' of the most degraded men and abandoned women of that 
pestiferous precinct to rise up in a body for the prayers of Chris- 
tians, while repentant tears coursed fast and free from eyes unused 
to weep for sinfulness? 

Among all the instrumentalities at work among tlie peoj^le, and 

431 



g PHILIP PHILLIPS. 

the agencies employed to redeem and bless, none are more friiitl'ul 
in harvests of success than Mr. Phillips with his sanctifying songs. 
An earnest Christian worker, full of sweet, catholic spirit, his ser- 
vices and charities are freely given to all who love the Saviour, 
without regard to denominational names. May God long spare 
the life of his true servant, whose zeal for the upbuilding of hia 
kingdom presents a spectacle at once as rare as it is noble and self- 
gacrificing. 

432 




■;-A 




HOOKF.P. 




JOSEPH HOOKER. 

BY GENERAL JOHN WATTS DE PEYSTER. 

'HE great Ainerican civil war not only stands alone, in itself 
one of the most remarkable phases in the development of 
human progress, and a huge step towards the final recog- 
nition of human rights ; but it is equally astonishing in its produc- 
tion of some of the most remarkable men who have ever moved 
upon the world's stage. Greater men have undoubtedly appeared 
from time to time thereon, but never in so short a space did indi- 
viduals spring from obscurity into the first rank; from subaltern 
stations rise to the leadership of vast armies ; from civil life, without 
an idea of military science, to generals' positions and important 
commands. One of these wonderful types of the adaptability and 
elasticity of the American character, is Joseph Hooker. 

It is true that he had served with distinction in Mexico, as 
assistant adjutant-general of a diminutive division. Yet six years 
of mere routine and garrison duty, and eight years and three 
months of civil vocation, had elapsed between the resignation of his 
commission as a regular, and his appointment as a brigadier-gen- 
eral of volunteers, — time enough, if the stuff had not been in 
him, to unlearn all he had acquired, and undo all his early experi- 
ence had done for him. 

Joseph Hooker was born at Hadley, on the east bank of the Con- 
necticut, in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, and with his ruddy 
cheeks, bright blue eye and light hair, lithe yet powerful frame, he 
was a fine type of the prominent and promising New England 
race. It is doubtful, taking him as a type, if there was a hand- 
somer ofiicer in the Union army ; and just in the same degree that 
28 433 



2 JOSEPH HOOKER. 

lie was a representative man as an individual, he was equally so as 
a soldier and as a general. 

His lifting the Army of the Potomac from the slough of despond 
into which it had fallen after the first battle of Fredericksburg, and 
subsequent "mud-march," and his making it "the finest army on 
this planet ; " his transmuting of our cavalry from an incoherent 
mass of horsemen into the thunderbolt which shattered its antago- 
nist in the first trial of strengtli ; his administrative innovation:?, 
which converted a jangling, unmanageable machine into a mighty, 
smoothlj'-vvorking engine ; his changing an army which resembled 
a sloth, into a porcupine or a sensitive-plant, which transmitted 
through every fibre the impression or influence of the slightest 
touch ; his system of corps-badges and regulations " promulgated for 
tiie government of all the armies in the Republic ;" his establish- 
ment of a bureau of secret information ; all this, and more, consti- 
tuted a metamorphosis, a new birth, almost without a parallel, 
certainly without a superior, in military records. 

Gustavus, and Frederic the G-reat, and Napoleon, are said to 
have accomplished the same change or changes ; but their portion 
of the glory was simply the finishing touches of a master, for whom 
all the rough work had already been accomplished. They, more- 
over, were despots whose will was law; and yet what they achieved 
was the culmination of the labor of years. Hooker, under repub- 
lican institutions, shackled by red-ta]3e, traveled by pedantry, and 
interfered with by politicians, achieved all this in less than three 
months. Had Hooker never done any thing else than this, it 
would have been a notable military achievement, such as would 
entitle him to high position among the military experts or creator 
of all ages. 

Space will not admit of dwelling longer upon his first fight 
(Williamsburg) than to characterize it as one of the grandest 
efibrts of a division-commander during the war. After this, his 
the Second Division of the Third Corps was known as " fighting- 
Joe Hooker's Division," and so it continued to be styled until, to 

434 



JOSEPH HOOKER. 3 

the grief and indignation of its surviving merabere, it was consoli- 
dated with the Second Corps, although still retaining its distinctive 
hadge ; and after Spottsylvania, merged in the First, Kearny's 
original division. Nor will time permit to do justice to his ser- 
vices throughout the Peninsular campaign ; nor to his greater 
services under Pope ; nor his victory at South Mountain, and his all 
but winning Antietam — each and all exhibitions of that heroic 
influence " which draws the battle after it." J^o one can contem- 
plate his plan for the Chancellorsville campaign without acknowl- 
edging that the " practical strategy " which circumvented Lee, 
" Stonewall " Jackson, and Longstreet, will withstand the closest 
scrutiny, and even be considered one of the most conspicuous efforts 
of well-established generalship. Kor will his wonderful march 
toward Gettysburg fail to claim an equal share of admiration, even 
when compared with " the unrivalled and exact maneuvering to 
and from Chancellorsville." 

If he was not permitted to direct in person the decisive battle of 
the East (Gettysburg), he won it in spirit ; for his foresight, energy, 
and general preparation saved Washington, arrested Lee, and made 
Gettysburg a possibility. 

Transferred to the West, his career was a repetition of the feats 
of dash and tenacity which characterized his operations under 
McClellan and Pope. The laurels due to Hooker are many and 
glorious. Had he been less great than he was, his chances of dis- 
tinction *would have ended when malevolence had goaded him to 
relinquish his high position as the third commander of the Army of 
the Potomac. 

But it was not so. Justice would not permit it to be so. His 
fate was not the fate either of his successor or that of his pre- 
decessors. 

Lookout Mountain, the key-note to Chattanooga, the entering- 
wedge to the first decisive fight on Missionary Eidge, the American 
" battle above the clouds," the most romantic triumph of the 
whole war, belongs to Hooker alone. That plum was never in- 

435 



4: JOSEPH HOOKER. 

tended for Lis sliare. But Heaven, juster and more merciful than 
man, determined tliat he shoidd be the one to plant the banner 
of the stars upon the loftiest pinnacle ever won throughout the war 
bj force of arms ; upon an efflorescence of rock as wonderful as the 
feat of arms it will ever commemorate ; a " pulpit-rock," from 
which the arch -spirit of the Rebellion, like the veiled prophet of 
Khorassan (no less dangerous in bis instincts and selfish ambition), 
stood and promised to his deluded followers a trinmph as false aa 
the poisoned goblet to a like fanaticized faithful in the halls of 
Neksheb. 

Thenceforward, even to the last, when a second and worse 
injustice compelled Hooker, through indignant self-respect, to laj 
down his command in favor of the verj general who lost him 
Chancellorsville, he was always, on every field on which he 
appeared, the same magnificent picture of a soldier, and the same 
glorious leader of men, the soldiers of the ]^orth. At Ringgold, 
Mill Creek, Resaca, Cassville, Dallas, Pine Mountain, on the 
Chattahooche, before Atlanta, but more particularly at Peach Tree 
Creek, most resplendent honors belong to the great general and 
soldier who received the thanks of Congress ''for the skill, energy, 
and endurance which, immediately after Chancellorsville, first 
covered Washington and Baltimore from the meditated blow of 
the advancing and powerful army of rebels, led by General 
Robert E. Lee." 

Hooker was originally destined for the church. It was a fortu- 
nate change for the country when the idea of making him a clergy- 
man was abandoned, and he was sent to West Point in 1833. He 
graduated in 1837, and as second lieutenant of the First Artillery, 
saw his first service in the Florida War — a trying field. As first 
lieutenant in 1S3S to 18-10, he was on duty on our northern frontier 
daring the " Canada border disturbances," and " disputed, territory 
controversy," Attached to the staff of Brigadier-General Hamar, 
he was brevetted for his gallantry in the several conflicts ending in 
the capture of Monterey in 1816 ; again brevetted for his partici- 

436 



JOSEPH HOOKER. 5 

pation ill the defence of our convoy at the National Bridge, June 
11, 18-17. lie took a prominent part in tlie combat of La Hoy a, 
June 20th of the same year. He was again conspicuous in the 
hot and resultive battle of Contreras, August 19th and 20th, whicli 
wiped out Valencia's grand division of the Mexican main army ; 
and in the tremendous conflict of Churubusco, August 20th, which 
would have decided the fall of Mexico on that very day (August 
20th) had Scott ])ushed his advantages, and followed up the mar- 
velous charge made by Kearny. 

On September 8th he participated in the bloody engagement 
which culminated in the storming of Molino del Key ; and he was a 
third time brevetted lieutenant-colonel for his "gallantry and merit" 
in connection with the assault of Chapultepec, September 13, 1817. 
In fact, whatever v;as accomplished by Pillow's Division, that is, as 
far as the result was dependent on manipulation, was due to Hooker. 
Indeed, to use an Americanism, " he ran it," for such was Scott's, 
implicit confidence in Hooker's judgment and his power to influ- 
ence and direct, he attached him to Pillow as a military mentor, 
and held him responsible for the proper administration and employ- 
ment of the command., 

As before stated, he resigned February 21, 1853, and converted 
his sabre into the sickle. For Ave years and upwards he was a 
farmer near Sonoma, and often dwells with great satisfaction on 
his success as an agriculturist in that beautiful valley of California. 
In 1858-9 he was superintendent of military roads in Oregon and 
"Washington Territory; and during the next two years, until he 
came East to offer his services to the Government, he was colonel 
of the California militia. 

The splendid record which Hooker had won in Mexico; the 
bravery and skill which he had manifested on the Aztec fields, 
paled before his subsequent achievements East and West, against 
Lee and Johnston, as subordinate, as chief; and again as illustrious 
lieutenant, assisting in crushing out the Slaveholders' Rebellion. 

His atatus, as regards some of the flnest characteristics of a sol- 

437 



Q JOSEPH HOOKER. 

dier, is acknowledged by all those who have the right to constitute 
themselves as judges. Those who served under him consider it the 
highest honor to have followed him, for he w^as one of those glori- 
ous spirits who never indicated the Hevy ascent to glory, and the 
hloody avenue to victory, but ever showed the w^ay. 

He was one who never said to his soldiers, " Go on," but invaria- 
bly shouted, " Come on ! " Cool and collected, jubilant, while self- 
possessed amid the perils of battle, his soldiers regarded him as a 
lode-star to follow, and as a palladium to preserve. Without exer- 
cising any of those arts whose illusory display, beyond the rattle 
and crash of the volley, sometimes wins the affections of a young 
army, too prone to invest a favorite with attributes which he only 
possesses in their untutored imagination, Hooker acquired the 
intense love and high respect of all who served with him, by his 
magnificent presence and conduct on the field ; so that he justified 
the lofty admiration of those who had witnessed both in the crisis 
of battle, and the fervid imagination of the poet. 

Nor is there any marvel that he was apostrophized by the poet 
as — 

" That glorious chief, to whom was given 
The right to scale the clouds of heaven. 
And bear the starry Hag on high, 
Back to its native regions iu the sky. 
Behold our general on the rocky height I 
A stately statue in a dome of light; 
With all the rebel army put to rout, 
Our ' fighting ' Hooker takes a long Look Out." 

Indeed, the very Butternuts could not refrain from cheering him. 
After carrying Lookout, — when he came sweeping across the " dry 
valley," taking, in reverse, Bragg's position on Missionary Ridge, 
rolling the Graybacks up in confusion and defeat, the very rebels he 
was beating yelled and hurrahed for him with a fervor of admira- 
tion as honest as the shouts of his own men. 

438 



JAMES B. TAYLOR. 



fi» N the 22d of August, 1870, the citizens of New York were 
i^>^ surprised with the sad intelligence that James B. Taylor, 
Jn^^ of the city, a prominent and distinguished gentleman, had 
died suddenly. He was widely known, respected, and esteemed by 
all for virtue, integrity, and social qualities. 

. At one time he was politically before the public, and identified 
with the old "Whig party, directing its movements and acting with 
the public leaders, though declining to accept an office. He denom- 
inated himself a " Conservative Republican," but strongly desiring 
to compromise vexed questions, he was sometimes found undecided 
about the measures of his party, and rather favoring democracy. 
He was the personal friend of Governor Seward, and united with 
liim in many political projects of the times. For several years 
past he had retired from active political life ; but his wisdom and 
judgment of men and measures have been of much service to 
others and to his country. 

Mr, Taylor was born in St. Johnsburg, Connecticut, on the 
13th of March, 1806. After receiving an ordinary education at a 
common school, he accepted the situation of a drj^-goods clerk in 
the store of General May, at Bethel, Yermont. Here he thoroughly 
learned the mercantile business, and, being successful, he was en- 
couraged to engage in a larger field of enterprise. He came to 
New York and opened a drj^-goods house, and as a merchant was 
very successful, making many friends, and in due time amassed 
great wealth. 

After a few years' engagement in mercantile pursuits, he com- 
menced a sliipping business, which he conducted very successfully, 

439 



2 JAMES B. TAYLOR. 

with much pecuniary advantage. Still later in life he received 
man}'^ contracts given out by the Government of New York City, 
for building and improvement. He superintended the improve- 
ment of West Washington Market, the New Custom-House, Fort 
Garrison, and other important buildings. 

Mr.* Taylor married Miss Laura S. daughter of Ebeuezer Day, so 
well and favorably kno"wn. Although he never united with the 
church, he was engaged in doing good as he had opportunity, and 
gave liberally of his wealth to benevolent aint Christian charities; 
practicing, though not a professor, the great precepts of the gospel. 
He was highly esteemed by the Kev. Dr. Chapin, of New York, 
who, though absent at the time of his death, traveled several hun- 
dred miles to officiate at his funeral, which was sad and impressive. 

440 




MATTHEW BAIRD. 



BY J. ALEXANDER PATTEN. 



'HE progress of our country in the mechanic arts is one of 
its grandest achievements. Looking into the shops and 
factories of to-day, nothing in mechanical ingenuity and 
skill seems impossible, while so late as forty years ago we had 
scarcely a tool or a machine. The experiment of republican self- 
government to be tried on these shores, and the taming of the vast 
wilderness which now lies fertile and populous before the eye, were 
no greater or more important problems in the destiny of the 
American people than the quick and effective supply of the me- 
chanical appliances for a growing country. By the blessing of 
Providence we had brains and nerve for all the work then before 
us, and are likely to have until the end of time. But we may well 
stand in astonishment as w6 contemplate our mechanical success, 
and bow reverently to the genius and energy which have produced 
it. Tiiese remarks are rendered pertinent by a review in this 
place of the career of Matthew Baird, of Philadelphia, and of the 
Baldwin Locomotive Works, of which he is one of the proprietors. 

Matthew Baird was born in Ireland, in 1317, and came to the 
United States when about four years of age. In 1831 he en- 
tered business with the ^Newcastle Manufacturing Company, at 
Newcastle, Delaware. The establishment was then building loco- 
motives, but discontinued that branch of manufacture in a few 
years. lie was afterward a foreman in the railroad shops at that 
place. lie went to Pliiladelphia in June, 1836, as a foreman in the 
Locomotive Works of the late Matthias W. Baldwin, whose name 
is imperishably connected with the building and improvement of 
the locomotive. From that time to the present, covering a period 

141 



2 MATTHEW BAIRD. 

of tliirtj-fonr years, with the exception of twenty months, Mr. 
Baird has been connected with these works. During the time 
from February, 1850, to Novenil)er, 1852, he was engaged in the 
marble business in Philadelphia. In 1851 he became a copartner 
with Mr. Baldwin, when the firm became M. W. Baldwin & Co. 
The business was conducted by Mr. Baldwin in person from 1831 
to 1851:. In 1867 Mr. Baldwin died, greatly lamented throughout 
the country. In tlie same year the business was reorganized and the 
works designated as the Baldwin Locomotive Works, M. Baird & 
Co., proprietors. George Burnham and Charles T. Parry were 
admitted to the copartnership, and three years later, January, 1870, 
Edward 11. Williams, William P. Henszey, and Edward Longstreth 
became members of the firm. 

The present division of duty among the six partners may be here 
stated. Mr. Baird, by reason of long and intimate connection with 
the trade, practical experience as a manufacturer, wealth and social 
position, rightfully is the head of the establishment, and is referred 
to in all matters of importance both in the production and selling of 
engines. Mr. Burnham has, since 1838, been in the counting-room ; 
he is properly, therefore, the financial manager, holds the keys of 
the vaults, looks after the bank account, and takes care of the ex- 
chequer, which, in an establishment doing a business to the amount 
of three and a half million dollars annually, is by no means an ordi- 
nary responsibility. Mr. Parry, who began service here in 1836, 
now holds the general supervision of the works, of the condition and 
order of the shops, material brought in, and manufactures sent out. 
Mr. Williams is a " railroad man," with eighteen years' experience 
in the management of the best-conducted roads in the United 
States, and his knowledge of what is required in actual service 
enables him intelligently to receive and apply tlie suggestions relating 
to the details of work. Mr. Henszey is the chief of the drawing 
department, with fifteen years' experience as a mechanical engineer. 
Mr. Longstreth, who, some thirteen years ago, entered the Avorks as 
an apprentice in the machine-shops, and before the end of his ap- 

M3 



MATTHEW BAIRD. 3 

prenticeship was made foreman of one of the shops, is now the 
superintendent of construction, ordering and overseeing the work in 
every department. Under these partners are private secretaries, 
book-keepers, draughtsmen, assistants, foremen, managers, inspect- 
ors, bosses, and watchmen, who see that orders are delivered and 
obeyed with precision and dispatch. System and punctuahty are 
the rule in every thing done. Eigliteen hundred workmen are 
employed, who turn out a locomotive each day. These works were 
not only the first established in America, but are the largest, in the 
capacity of number of locomotives constructed, in the world. 

Mr. Matthias W. Baldwin is entitled to the innnortal honor of 
beino; the builder of the first successful locomotive made in the 
United States. It was constructed in 1832, on an order from the 
Germantown Railroad Company. Previous to that date only three 
locomotives had been built in this country, none of which gave sat- 
isfacti(j«. In 1828 the first locomotiv^e was imported from 
England, and another was imported in 1830, but they did not 
answer. In April, 1831, Mr. Baldwin exhibited a miniature loco- 
motive engine drawing two cars, with seats for four persons which 
worked successfully, and led to the giving of the order before men- 
tioned. He had great difticulties to contend with. There were in 
Philadelphia only five machinists who could, do any part of the work 
on a locomotive. No blacksmith could be found able to weld a 
bar of iron exceeding 1^ inches in thickness and the welding of a 
tire 5 X 1|- inches was a feat beyond the capacity of any forge in 
the State. The only contrivance in use whereby a cylinder could 
be bored out was a chisel, fixed in a round stick of wood, turned 
by means of a crank and worked by hand. Planing and slotting 
machines were unknown. 

Thus without tools or models, Mr. Baldwin entered upon his 
work. But he had an original and fertile genius to guide him, and 
on the 23d of November, 1832, six months after receiving the 
order, he placed the completed locomotive on the road. It was 
called the " Ironsides," and was an entire success, running a mile in 

443 



4 MATTHEW BAIED. 

less than a minute. ELundreds of people went to the line of the 
road to witness its performances, and eagerly paid for tlie privilege 
of so novel a ride. The following advertisement is from a 
Philadelphia paper of the day : — 

" Notice. — The engine (built by Mr. Baldwin) with a train of cars will run daily 
(commencing this day) when the weatlier is fair. 

" When the weather is not fair tlie horses will draw the cars the four trips." 

Railroad engineers had not yet learned to sand the track in rainy 
weather. However absurd it may now appear, engines were then 
housed in wet weather and horses rested on clear days. 

Mr, Baldwin's great reputation as a locomotive builder began from 
this hour, and he devoted his brilliant mechanical mind during the 
remainder of his life to the improvement of this kind of machinerj^ 
Before the close of 1834 he had coinpleted five engines. He erected 
new sho})S on Broad Street, above Callowliill Street, where the works 
are still located. In 1835 fourteen locomotives were built, in 1836, 
forty, and in 1837, forty -live. The business was therefore fully es- 
tablished, and has grown from year to year, experiencing with other 
departments of manufacture and trade periodical revulsions, until 
the Baldvv'in Locomotive Works have reached their present extent. 
In a third of a century, the capacity of manufacture and business 
has increased from one small engine in six months to one engine 
a day, or over three hundred of the most powerful and complete 
railroad locomotives in a year. Mr. Baldwin made many improve- 
ments in the construction of the locomotive, and his successors are 
prepared by talents and experience to maintain the reputation of 
the establishment for its work. 

Twenty-three different classes of engines are made at the Bald- 
win Locomotive Works, which vary in weight from fourteen thou- 
sand pounds to ninety thousand pounds. The proprietoi-s have for 
years been engaged in perfecting a system of engines adapted to 
economical work on almost any grade or curve. Some of their 
engines have performed as much as one hundred thousand miles 

444 



MATTHEW BATED. 5 

without any repairs, and one hundred and fifty thousand miles 
with sliii-ht reuairs. 

An ordinary locomotive consists of about four thousand different 
parts or pieces, of tliese about three hundred are forgings, about 
four hundred are iron castino;s, and two hundred are braps castiuirs. 
Xearly five hundred machines are required in executing the work. 
Every piece of a kind belonging to eacJi class is made exactly the 
same by the most accurate measurement, and by a system of stand- 
ard gauges. If an engineer in Oregon should telegraph to the Bald- 
win Locomotive Works that the piston rod or a crosshead of a loco- 
motive of a certain class made by them was broken, a duplicate, 
certain to fit with absolute exactness, could be forwarded at once. 

The Baldwin Locomotive Works have an area of two hundred and 
forty thousand square feet. On the center of the Broad Street 
front, stands the memorable old shop, three stories in lieight, erected 
by Mr. Baldwin in 1834. Within the last few years large addi- 
tions have been made to the buildings and facilities for manufac- 
turing. They erected a foundery one hundred and nine by ninety 
feet ; a three-story erecting shop, having three fronts on different 
streets, respectively of two hundred and six feet, one hundred and 
thirty-three feet, and sixty-eight feet ; and a smith shop one hun- 
dred and eighty by one hundred and sixty feet. The whole estab- 
lishment presents a completeness in both arrangement and 
machinery equal to any other in this country or Europe. 

In tracing the history of these great locomotive works, we have 
necessarily also sketched the career of Mr. Baird. He began his 
efforts in them, in their infancy, and in his own early manhood, 
and they have literally grown with his own mental and bodily 
powers. He shared all the responsibilities and hopes of the 
illustrious Baldwin, whose mantle has with entire appropriateness 
fallen upon his shoulders. 

Mr. Baird is a man of a large round figure, with a head in mas- 
sive proportions to suit his ample body. His features are regular, 
and expressive of a far-reaching mind and of agreeable qualities of 

445 



Q MATTHEW BAIRD. 

cliaracter. His manners are quiet and self-possessed. He is not 
inclined to show or boastfulness in any particular, but delights in 
the exhibition of honest virtues and noble purposes. Rising to his 
present position of business and social influence by industry and 
an honorable life, his sympathies are always with the toiling 
masses. In the midst of his vast interests and the irresistible tide 
of business, he shows himself constantly thoughtful of his army of 
workmen, and does much by counsel and benevolence to encourage 
them in their station. He is esteemed and beloved by all who 
know him in personal relations, and his mechanical labors and 
enterprise make him worthy of an enduring fame. 

446 




It 



OASSIUS MAECELLUS CLAY. 



^ASSIUS MAECELLUS CLAY was born October 19, 1810, 
at his paternal home in the county of Madison and State 
of Kentucky, United States of America. He was the sixth 
child and third son of Green and Sally Clay. The Clays, including 
Henry, were descended from two brothers, Henry and John Clay, 
■who emigrated from Wales in Great Britain,, in the year of 1662, 
to the State of Virginia. Henry and Green emigrated early in life 
to Kentucky. Green Clay was a pioneer, contemporary with Daniel 
Boone, and was one of the founders of the Kentucky constitution. 
When the War of 1812 broke out between England and the Amer- 
ican Union, General G. Clay took command of the Kentucky Yol- 
unteers, and distinguished himself at Fort Meigs, where the Indians 
and British were defeated. 

He married Sally Lewis, daughter of Thomas Lewis, of Fayette 
County. She was a lineal descendant of that Payne, of Yirginia, 
who is mentioned favorably in history as connected with George 
Washington, and she was also descended from the Douglas's of Scot- 
land, which continues a family name to this day. 

Green Clay, like Washington, was a pioneer land-surveyor, and 
accumulated a large fortune. Cassius M. commenced a classical 
education with Joshua Fry, Esq., in Garrard County, Kentucky, 
passed through Transylvania University to the senior year, under 
President Wood ; joined the junior class of Yale College in 1832, 
and graduated the next year in that celebrated university. In the 
college societies he distinguished himself as a debater, and was 
chosen by the senior class to deliver the annual address in honor 
of Washington's centennial birthday. William Lloyd Garrison, at 

447 



2 CASSIUS MARCELLUS CLAY. 

« 
that time obscure, liad just iruide one of his bold denunciator^' lec- 
tures against slavery. A public meeting was held in one of the 
churches of New Haven, in which Garrison was denounced in un- 
measured terms. These false sentiments found no response in Mr. 
Clay's convictions, and in his Washingtonian address he expressed 
in decided terms his want of sympathy with the defenders of slav- 
ery. These declarations at the time caused much comment, and 
were remembered when his subsequent career was developed. As 
soon as he was eligible he was chosen a representative in the lower 
House of the Kentucky Legislature, from his native county. 

He was a bold and successful advocate of what has been designa- 
ted as the system of " Internal Improvements," and through his ef- 
forts established a common-school system. Finding that after be- 
ins three times returned to the Legislature, twice from Madison 
County and last from Fayette, — " Henry Clay's County," — that the 
slaveholders were systematically the opposers of the education of 
the people, he came out boldly against slavery. As his career of 
State action in defense of the freedom of speech and of the press is 
well-known, we omit the history here of the True American^ the 
mobs and assaults, which need more space than is here possible. 
He canvassed the North in 1842, in favor of Henry Clay, against 
James K. Polk, and against the slaveholders' scheme of Texas 
annexation and slavery extension, and everywhere addressed im- 
mense crowds with ■telling effect. Henry Clay's unfortunate letter 
ignoring; the great issue of slavery, ofave some votes to James G. Bir- 
ney, the abolition candidate, and thus the Wliigs lost the election. 

But believing that when the country was at war, all party ques- 
tions should be merged in patriotic defense, he joined the volunteers 
who went to the standard of General Taylor in Texas. In a scout- 
ing party at the hacienda of Encarnacion,in Mexico, under the com- 
mand of Major Boland, of Arkansas, he was made prisoner. When 
Captain J. Henry escaped, he, by his presence of mind, saved the pris- 
oners from death, and in the march to Mexico shared his small 
means liberally with the soldiers. So when Major Gaines and Bf r- 

448 



CASSIUS MARCELLUS CLAY. 3 

land violated their parole and escaped, he stood by the soldiers ; 
and by his efforts effected a march to the city of Mexico, where 
they were exchanged for Mexican prisoners of war. He was the 
most popular man in his corps, and was recommended for promotion, 
but the slaveholding interest interfered. But on his return home 
he received such a popular ovation in Lexington, as had never be- 
fore been made to any citizen ; and a magnilicent sword was pre- 
sented to him by the people of Kentucky. Mr. Clay supported 
General Taylor for President, being one of the delegates from Fay- 
ette Count}'' who nominated him in Frankfort, Kentucky. But 
finding the Whig party wanting in liberalism, he ran as independ- 
ant candidate for Governor of Kentucky, and as the advocate of 
emancipation. He broke down the Whig candidate in the State, 
and built up, for tlie first time, a Republican party in the Slave States. 
He supported Fremont for the Presidency. In the Chicago Con- 
vention he was second on the list, for Yice President : and would 
have been nominated, but that it was not deemed prudent to have 
two candidates from the West. The friends of Wm. H. Seward, 
believing that Mr. Clay could have given him the nomination over 
Lincoln, have, with their chief, ever since shown feelings of resent- 
ment against Cassius M. Clay. Mr. Lincoln had written a letter to 
Mr. Clay after his election, promising him the post of Secretary ot 
War. This Mr. Seward, who was made Secretary of State, prevented, 
putting Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania, in that place. Mr. Clay 
was made Tiiinister to Spain, but refused to take any office after he 
was not made Secretary of War as promised. By the persuasion, 
however, of Senator Baker, who fell at Ball's Bluff, he was induced 
to take the mission to Russia, as his refusal to take office might 
have weakened the administration, already in a minority. Mr. Clay 
arriving in England, was induced by Americans there to publish 
his " Times Letter ;" and for the same reason to join in the Breakfast 
Speeches in Paris. His friends claim that he exercised a wholesome 
influence on the British and French people, who were at bottom, 
in spite of the ruling classes, the friends, throughout the war, of the 
29 449 



4 CASSIUS MARC ELLUS CLAY. 

American Union. "When tlie war broke out Mr. Clay raised two 
volunteer companies in Washington City, and in conjunction with 
James Lane, and as colonel of both forces, defended the capital, which 
the rebels had conspired to take, until the Seventh Hegiment of New 
York and the Massachusetts forces came to the relief of the city. 
Tlie service was of inestimable value, for had the chiefs of the array 
and the government been taken, no one can tell what would have 
been the effect on the result of the war. For this service Mr. Clay 
and friends received the public thanks of President Lincoln, and the 
present of a pistol from the Secretary of War. The ISTew York Union 
Safety Committee recommended Mr. Clay for the post of Major- 
General, which would have placed him in rank above all the gen- 
erals of the army "save General Scott." This he wisely declined, 
as it would have given just offense to the regular army officers. 
But Mr. Clay promised that if he could be of any use, in consequence 
of so much treason in the army, his services were at Mr. Lincoln's 
command at any time. Upon this pretext Mr. Seward re-called 
Mr. Clay from Russia in 18G2, the rank of major-general being con- 
ferred upon him. This was neither desired nor expected by Mr. 
Clay ; and it appears that Mr. Seward was at the bottom of the 
intrigue. 

Executive Mansion, Washington, Aug. 12, 1862. 
Hon. Cassttts M. Clay : 

My Dear Sir, — I learn that you would not dislike returning to Russia as Minister 
Plenipotentiary. You were not recalled for any fault of yours, but, as understood, it 
was done at your request. Of course, there is no personal objection to your reappoint- 
ment. Still General Cameron can not be recalled except by his request. Some conver- 
sation passing between him and myself renders it due that he should not resign without 
full notice of my intention to reappoint you. If he resign with such full knowledge and 
understanding, I shall be quite willing, and even gratified, to again send you to Russia. 

Your Ob't Serv't, 

A. Lincoln. 

When Mr. Clay reached America, he found General Ilalleck and 
others returning the captured and fugitive slaves of the rebels to 
their masters. In speeches at Brooklyn and Washington he de- 
nounced this practice — saying " he would never draw his sword in 

450 



CASSIUS MARCELLUS CLAY. 5 

such a cause ; for how could we call upon the God of buttles to 
save our liberties, when we ourselves struck down the liberties of 
the blacks?" 

From the beginning of the war, in his speech at "Willard's Hotel, 
he demanded the liberation of the blacks ; and now urged it with 
so much force on President Lincoln, that he sent Mr. Clay on a 
secret mission to Kentucky, — to sound the people of the State, — to 
see if they would submit loyally to a proclamation of freedom to 
the slaves. Mr. Clay was heard in the Hall of the House of 
Kepresentatives by the House and the Senate of Kentucky, and 
his bold and patriotic sentiments were received with acclamation 
in the capitol from which a few years ago he was excluded — 
speaking in darkness on its steps to a threatening mob in behalf of 
liberty and equality to all before the law. This last speech was 
reported in full in the Cincinnati Gazette of 1862 — was shown to 
Mr. Lincoln, and in a few days thereafter the celebrated proclama- 
tion of September 22d was made. 

Mr. Clay, finding that he was likely, as had been all the Kepub- 
lican generals, to be ruined by Halleck, he returned, against the 
intrigues and opposition of Seward, to Russia, when, of all our min- 
isters, he only was successful in keeping the Russian government 
actively on the side of the Union, and thus prevented France and 
England from an armed intervention, and made it possible for us 
to acquire Alaska. 

Mr. Clay was friendly to Mr. Lincoln's re-election, whose great 
talents and loveof country he so well knew and appreciated. After 
the conquest of the South, Mr. Clay recommended a magnanimous 
policy, declaring that — after the salvation of the Union and the 
freedom of the slave were assured — the South should be forgiven, 
and the rebellion forgotten. He was opposed to the extreme mea- 
sures of the party, and against the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. 
But when that ambitious man was induced by Mr. Seward, for his 
own ends, to attempt to build up a new party, led by " unrepentant 
rebels," Mr. Clay refused to follow Mr. Seward in his war upon 

451 



Q CASSIUS MARCELLUS CLAY. 

the Republican party. For this, Mr. Seward again attempted to 
recall Mr. Clay, but the Senate of the United States stood by hinrj, 
and lie continued in office under General Grant, whose election he 
favored, until the first of October, 1869, when he voluntarily re- 
turned home, having for the third time defeated his arch enemy — 
William H. Seward. Before General Clay reached home, ho was 
offered by his friends a public reception in New York, and in his 
own State ; but he refused, preferring to take a mature view of 
the political situation. He had resolved, for the present, to retire 
entirely into private life. Universal emancipation and equality 
hefore the law for all having been achieved, he formed business 
connections in New York, intending to retrieve, if possible, his 
pecuniary means, which a life of devotion to the public weal had 
greatly shattered ; but while there, he saw, with indignation, a 
Spanish fleet fitted out in ISTew-York harbor against the Cubans 
and blacks, in revolt against the tyranny of Spain. He joined in 
the public mass-meeting held last spring in the Cooper Institute; 
and was the leading speaker in denouncing the cowardice and im- 
becility of Secretary Fish's foreign policy. He drew up the reso- 
lutions in favor of Cuba, which were unanimously passed, and was 
chosen, without a dissenting voice, President of the Cuban Associa- 
tion by that meeting. 

Mr. Clay thus stands boldly in his old role of defender of uni- 
versal liberty and republicanism ; and will support only such 
Presidential candidates for 1872 as will prove faithful to the great 
principles of his life, for which no man living or dead has made 
more pecuniary and personal sacrifices. 

452 



RUFUS HATCH. 




,UFUS HATCH was born June 24, 1832, in Wells, York 
County, Maine. His father, after whom he was named, 
was a farmer by occupation, and held various positions of 
trust in the town and county of his residence. The son, the sub- 
ject of our present sketch, while a child, was always in delicate 
health, and, as a consequence, combined with the limited education 
that a country district-school afforded, his advantages in that re- 
spect were not at all as they might have been. 

When fifteen years of age, he was engaged as clerk in a country 
store, and, after the labors of the day were ended, would spend his 
evenings in study and in making recitations before the village 
schoolmaster, thus self-educating and preparing his mind for what 
was to follow. At nineteen years of age, he left his home, kindred, 
and friends for the then far, and almost unknown, free, glorious 
West, and settled in the town of Rockford, Illinois. He then 
joined a company of engineers, and was afterwards engaged in sur- 
veying the land for the first railroad ever built in the State of Wis- 
consin, and which is now a portion of the great corporation known as 
the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Company of Hlinois. After 
its completion, he went back to Rockford, Illinois, as a clerk in a 
mercantile house, and while there, was married, in the year 1853, to 
an estimable lady, a namesake, but no relation, Miss Charlotte 
Hatch, by whom he has three children, all living. The year fol- 
lowing, viz., in 1854, he removed to Chicago, and went into busi- 
ness for himself as a grain broker, and was the first man to gather 
and collect the statistics of the grain trade for the use and benefit 
of the business public. He soon became prominent in mercantile 

453 



2 RUFUS HATCH. 

circles as a member of the firm of Messrs, Armstrong & Co., grain 
merchants, who failed in the year 1856, occasioned by the heavy 
decline in breadstufi^, consequent upon the sudden ending of the 
Crimean War in Europe. Their liabilities being large, and the 
majority of grain merchants and others thereabouts likewise meet- 
ing with similar misfortunes, the indebtedness of Armstrong & Co. 
was never settled until long after they were legally outlawed, 
when Mr. Kufus Hatch, who had by this time become compara- 
tively rich, took it upon himself, and paid the entire indebtedness 
of the firm, with interest in full, which had then almost become 
double the original amount. Never having compromised a 
siuffle debt, such an honorable financial record deserves to be 
forever prominently known and emblazoned to the entire business 
world. 

In the year 1862 he left Chicago, and went to New York City 
with two thousand dollars, and boldly entered the speculative 
arena of Wall Street, where fortunes are made and lost in a day, 
and sometimes in an hour. He was successful, and became wealthy, 
and was very prominently identified with the Chicago and Korth- 
western Railroad Company, in buying up its stock at low prices, 
and placing the credit of the corporation at and near par, where 
before it had always ruled very low, thus showing his natural 
sagacity about raih'oad matters, and which has been repeatedly evi- 
denced since. He is the onlj' successful Wall Street financier who 
always candidly and truthfully told of his intended future opera- 
tions, and enabled others as well as himself to acquire wealth by 
his enlarged and liberal views. This seems to have been the key 
to his success. The financial public, who formerly were purposely 
led astray by the other Wall Street magnates, soon learned to place 
their whole faith and dependence upon their new leader, the result 
of which is that he has only to give out an idea, when it is instantly 
caught up by others, and carried to a successful issue by the aid of 
his assistance. There are scores of people to-day, who owe their 
pecuniary all (in some cases, amounting to entire fortunes) to this 

454 



EUFUS HATCH 3 

candor and frankness of his, and a perpetual desire to do good 
unto others as well as himself. 

He is a man of great originalitj, and is eccentric, bold, positive, 
fearless, and impulsive in all he says and in all he does — never for- 
gets a favor, or forgives an injury. In person, he is of medium 
size, with a genial, frank, open face, and a pleasant word and smile 
for every one ; but there are times, when engaged in deep thought 
and study, that he seems to be oblivious to everything going on 
around him, but yet observes everything. In dress he is simple 
and unostentatious, his daily habits partaking of the like charac- 
teristics. His works of charity are equally quiet and modest, 
never letting " the right hand know what the left hand doeth." 
Benevolent enterprises owe to him very much, but publicity is 
never allowed to his generosity. He is more than liberal in 
church matters, and a worthy cause or case was never known 
to apneal to him in vain. The friends of his boyhood-days, if 
in want, have not, either, been forgotten. An instance, among 
others, just comes to our recollection, of a man now old and feeble, 
who once in that time loaned Mr. Hatch three hundred dollars. 
That old gentleman, and a great many more similarly circum- 
stanced, are regular recipients of his bounty, and are not al- 
lowed to have any ordinary want go ungratiiied so far as his open 
purse can fulfil their desires. But the victims of misfortune, es- 
pecially those who have been unfortunate in their business, are the 
ones that particularly claim, and themselves proclaim, his disinter- 
ested and noble generosity. His friendship, influence, and prac- 
tical succor, in such cases, are a matter of pleasing comment by all 
his business associates and those whose privilege it is to have his 
acquaintance. Being a man of natural artistic tastfe, and some 
self-acquired attainments in that respect, he is only too glad to 
assist struggling talents if he thinks they are but worthy, and there 
are artists to-day occupying some of the proudest positions in their 
respective professions who are solely indebted to him for the 
better knowledge and culture they enjoy, some of wl om he sent 

455 



4 RUFUS HATCH. 

to Europe for that purpose, and defrayed the whole expenses 
attendant thereon, 

Financial matters generally engross the major portion of his at- 
tention, being known as a powerful and sagacious writer and 
thinker upon such topics. He was one of the first men in the 
country who predicted the enormous power and inflation from the 
issue, by the government, of paper currency. He was, and is, also, 
just as strenuously of the opinion that the culminating point has 
been reached, and lower values must take their places until gold 
reaches par, principally on account of the contraction policy pursued 
by the present administration. 

He was one of the few original men to organize and perfect the 
the late " Open Board of Brokers," of which, at different times, 
before its consolidation with the New York Stock Exchange, 
he was elected as its presiding officer, and it was only because his 
own private affairs were so exacting, that he had to decline the 
nomination as president of the latter institution, which had been 
personally tendered him by as many as three-fourths of its 
members. He is connected with various banking and financial 
institutions and corporations, and bestows a proper interest in the 
welfare of each, in addition to his other multifarious duties. 

456 




HOI^. HEIN-RT WILSOI^. 

BY J. ALEXANDER PATTEN. 

^HE Statesmanship and public labors of tlie Hon, Henry 
Wilson belong to a period of his country's history which 
must ever give them prominence in the eyes of the present 
and all coming generations. Close in his relationship to one of the 
great political parties, he has, as much as any of his contemporaries, 
made its policy and legislation identical with natioTial strength and 
freedom. He is not a statesman of theories of governmental policy, 
but one who is a worker for undeniable principles. Humbly born, 
lie is self-educated and self-made. Patriotic with every pulsation of 
his being he has been a safe man for the public councils in the 
emergency of the nation, and his exalted personal worth has given 
more power to his opinions and acts. 

Heiny Wilson was born at Fartnington, New Hampshire, Febru- 
ary 16, 1812. Though now fifty-eight years of age, he is in the prime 
of mental and physical activity. His parents were poor, and at 
the age of ten years he was bound to a farmer until he was twenty- 
one. These were eleven years of almost incessant work. He had 
a few weeks' schooling at the district school in winter, in all amount- 
ing to not more than one year. His desire for knowledge was a 
pas-sion with him, and he gratified it mider great difficulties. By 
the twilight, firelight, and on Sundays he was always found poring 
over some instructive book. He obtained his books from the school 
libraries, and every individual who would lend him one. He was 
particularly fond of geography, biography, and general literature, 
and during the time of his apprenticeship read not less than one 
thousand volumes. 

At twenty-one he went to Natick, Massachusetts, to learn the 

45T 



2 HENRY WILSON. 

trade of shoemaker. He had good health, and a mind trained and 
informed by his reading, but all his worldly possessions were packed 
upon his back. Obtaining work, he continued at it for over two 
Tears, living wath rigid economy and self-denial, in order to save 
something to attend an academy. He entered the academy at Con- 
cord and Wolfsborough, 'New Hampshire, but his studies were at 
length interrupted by the loss of his money, through the insolvency 
of the person with whom he had intrusted it. In 1838 he returned 
to Natick to resume his trade of shoemaking. But he determined 
to unite study with his daily toil. Means of doing this were secured 
by forming a debating society among the young mechanics of the 
place ; investigating subjects, reading, and writing, he accustomed 
himself to speak on all the themes of the day, and show^ed a talent 
for oratory as well as keen powers of argument. His undoubted 
ability had already attracted attention, and he was regarded as a 
man who was destined to rise from the ranks of the people to 
positions of influence and honor. 

In 1840 Wilson commenced liis political career in the service of 
the then powerful Wliig party. He engaged with ardor in the 
Harrison and Tyler campaign, and was brought out as a public 
speaker. In about four months he made sixty speeches, which were 
eloquent and effective in the highest degree. The triumphs of his 
party in the Presidential election, and his own efficient services 
gave him much additional prominence. During the succeeding 
five years he was three times elected a representative, and twice a 
senator, to the Legislature of Massachusetts. " Having entered life 
on the working-man's side," says Mrs. Stowe in her biography of 
Mr. Wilson, " and known by liis own experience the working-man's 
trials, temptations and hard struggles, he felt the sacredness of a 
poor man's labor and entered public life with a heart to take the 
part of the toiling and the oppressed. 

" Of course he was quick to feel that the great question of our 
times was the question of labor, and its rights and rewards. He was 
quick to feel the irrepressible conflict, which Seward so happily 

458 



HENRY WILSON. 3 

designated, between the two modes of society existing in America, 
and to know that thej must tight and struggle till one of them 
throttled and killed the other ; and prompt to understand this, he 
made liis early election to live or die on the side of the laboring 
poor, whose most oppressed type was the African slave." 

In the Legislature his fixed opposition to slavery was at once 
apparent. In 18^6 he introduced a resolution declaring the 
unalterable hostility of Massachusetts to the further extension and 
longer continuance of slavery in the United States, His speech on 
this occasion was pronounced by Mr. Garrison the fullest and most 
comprehensive on the slavery question that had yet been delivered 
in any legislative body in the country. The resolution was adopted 
by a large majority, but defeated in the Senate. During the year 
1845 he went with the poet AVhittier to Washington with the 
remonstrance of Massachusetts against the admission of Texas as 
a slave State. From the date of these proceedings to the end of 
the struggle Mr. "Wilson held a foremost place among the anti- 
slavery men of the nation. 

On the rejection of the anti-slavery resolutions presented to the 
AVhig National Convention, to which he was a delegate, Mr. "Wil- 
son promptly withdrew from it. Subsequently he was one of the 
most energetic and efficient organizers in forming the Free Soil 
party of Massachusetts. To aid this movement he bought a daily 
paper in Boston, which for some time he edited with great ability. 
For four years he was chairman of the Free "Soil State Committee 
of Massachusetts. In 1850 he was again a representative in the 
legislature ; and in 1851 and 1852 was a member of the Senate 
and president of the body. In 1852 he was the president of the 
Free Soil IS^ational Convention at Pittsburgh, and chairman of the 
]S"ational Committee. He was the Free Soil candidate for Con- 
gress in the same year. In 1853 and 1851 he was an unsuccessful 
candidate for governor of Massachusetts, and in the first-named year 
he was an active and influential member of the Massachusetts 
Constitutional Convention. His first election to the Senate of the 

459 



4 HENRY WILSON. 

United States took place in 1855 to fill a vacancj occasioned by tlie 
resignation of Edward Everett. He has been twice re-elected to 
the same oifice by a vote nearly unanimous. 

In February, 1855, he took his seat in the Senate. A few days 
later he made a speech, in which he announced for himself and his 
anti-slavery friends uncompromising hostility to the institution of 
slavery, or as he expressed it in the words of Jefferson, " to every 
kind of oppression over the mind and body of man." He kept his 
promise to the letter. Shrinking from no responsibility and no 
labors, he stood throughout the whole contest unflinching in courage, 
and untiring in effort for his cause. His speeches were singularly 
tree from all attempts of rhetoric, while they were made profound 
by his minute acquaintance and close analysis of his subject. " Kot 
even John Quincy Adams or Charles Sumner," says Mrs. Stowe, 
" could show a more perfect knowledge of what they Avere talking 
about tlian Henry Wilson, Whatever extraneous stores of knowl- 
edge and helles lettres may have been possessed by any of his associ- 
ates, no man on the floor of the Senate could know more of the 
United States of America than he; and what was wanting in the 
graces of the orator, or the refinements of the rhetorician, was more 
than made amends for in the steady, irresistible, strong tread of the 
honest man, determined to accomplish a worthy purpose." 

In 1856 he was challenged to fight, a duel by Mr. Preston S. 
Brooks, of South Carolina. This was occasioned by language used 
by Mr. Wilson in denouncing the personal assault made by Mr. 
Brooks upon Mr. Sumner. Mr. Wilson declined the challenge in 
firm and manly terms. 

When the war with the South broke out, Mr. Wilson was one' of 
the few men of the country who realized its nature and probable 
magnitude. Instead of seventy- tive thousand troops he advised a 
call for three hundred thousand. He induced the Secretary of 
War to double the number of regiments assigned to Massachusetts, 
and in the prompt forwarding of these troops he was especially 
active. After the defeat at Bull Eun, at the solicitation of diSer- 

460 



HENRY WILSON. 5 

ent members of the cabinet, Mr, Wilson returned to Massachusetts to 
raise a body of infantry, sharp-shooters, and artillery. He succeeded 
in enlisting twenty-three hundred men. He was commissioned col- 
onel of the Twenty-second Regiment, and with his regiment, a com- 
pany of sharp-shooters, and the Third Battery of artillery, he returned 
to Washington. Afterward, as aid on the staff of General McClel- 
lan, Mr. Wilson served until the beginning of the following year, 
when pressing duties in Congress compelled him to resign his 
military commission. At all times he was the friend of the soldiers, 
and gave much time to visiting the camps and hospitals to see 
personally to their wants. 

At the commencement of the war the Senate had assigned to Mr. 
Wilson the chairmanship of the Military Committee. No person 
could have been better qualified by capacity and experience for this 
important position. His exertions and achievements quite aston- 
ished others who were in the public service. General Scott declared 
that Mr. Wilson accomplished more work in three mouths than had 
been done b}-- all the chairmen of the Military Committee in twenty 
years. 

An enumeration of the leading measures that he introduced 
during the war shows that he grappled with the gigantic conflict in 
all its parts. On the second day of the Extra Session he introduced 
a bill authorizing the employment of live hundred thousand volun- 
teers for three years, and subsequently a bill authorizing the accept- 
ance of five hundred thousand volunteers additional. Other bills 
related to the appointment of army ofiicers, the purchase of arms 
and munitions of war, and increasing the pay of private soldiers — 
all of which were enacted. He originated and carried through bills 
relating to courts- martial, allotment certificates, army signal depart- 
ment, sutlers and their duties, the army medical department, en- 
couragement of enlistments, making free the wives and children of 
colored soldiers, a uniform system of army ambulances, increasing 
Btill further the pay of soldiers, calling out the military forces by 
draft, establishing a national military and naval asylum for totally 

401 



Q HENRY WILSON. 

disabled officers and men of the volunteer forces, encouraging the 
employment of disabled and discharged soldiers, securing to colored 
soldiers equality of pay, and other provisions. He introduced the 
bill abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia, and the law of 
May 21, 1862, providing for the equality, before the law, of the 
colored people of the District. Another measure was an amend- 
ment to the Militia Bill of 1795, which made negroes a part of 
the militia, and provided for the freedom of all such men of color 
as should be called into the service of the United States, as well as 
the freedom of tlieir mothers, wives, and children, and the abolition 
of Peonage in ISTew Mexico. Few other legislators in the world's 
history can present an array of measures so numerous and moment- 
ous in their character as that here given in connection with Mr. 
Wilson. After the close of the war he also originated legislation 
for the reduction of the army, and reconstruction, and was promi- 
nent in urging measures to meet the new condition of the South- 
ern States, and of the country at large. 

He made an extended tour through the South, and delivered a 
number of addresses on political and national topics. During the 
Grant and Colfax campaign he showed his usual zeal. His 
speeches were regarded as among the ablest delivered on the Ke- 
publican side. Of late he has made frequent addresses at tem- 
perance and religious meetings, having a warm sympathy with all 
efforts for the moral and Christian regeneration of his fellow-men. 

Mr. Wilson is the author of a " History of the Anti-Slavery 
Measures of the Thirty-seventh and Thirty-eight Congresses," and 
" History of the Eeconstruction Measures of the Thirty-ninth Con- 
gress." He is also an occasional contributor to the Atlantio 
Monthly and the newspapers. His writings are characterized by 
fluency of diction and accuracy in the statement of facts. Mr. 
Wilson is now engaged in writing an elaborate work entitled the 
" Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America," in three volumes. 

In appearance Mr. Wilson is of the medium height, with a 
sound and erect figure. He is active, and shows his great physical 

462 



HENRY WILSOX. 7 

vitality and energy in all his movements. His bead is lar,.^e, witli 
regular, though prominent, and expressive features. liis hair is 
straight and abundant, and now becoming quite gray. In his man- 
ners he is particularly courteous and gentle. Any person can 
approach him with the certainty of receiving the most respectful 
attention. Tliis natural kindness of his nature gives, however, no 
idea of his sternness and inflexibility in all matters of principle. In 
this respect, he is fearless, out-spoken, and bitter. He makes no 
compromises, is at everlasting war with tlie issue presented, and 
gives his whole energy of body and mind to tlie overthrow and 
destruction of the adversary. Such is the character of Henry Wil- 
son. Socially he is a pattern of benignity, meekness, and gener- 
osity. But in the battle of his age for great reforms he is a Hercu- 
les for labor, and a relentless, unsparing, and unwearying champian 
of every cause in which he engages. 

463 



. JOHisr a. SAXE. 




"( ^%OHN G. SAXE, LL. D., an American poet, was born at 
\t^^ Highgate, Franklin County, Yermont, on the 2cl of June, 
1816. His father, Hon. Peter Saxe, a native of Ulster 
County, ]^ew York, was a farmer, mill-owner, and merchant in 
Highgate, at a place called " Saxe's Mills," where in the early part 
of the war of the Kevolution, John Saxe, grandfather of John G. 
(a native of Langensalza, Germany), built the first grist mill 
erected in northern Yermont. 

After spending his youtli in the district schools of the neighbor- 
hood, and in the labor of the farm, the subject of this notice spent 
two years at the Franklin County Grammar School in St. Albans ; 
and in the fall of 1835 entered the Wesleyan University at Middle- 
town, Conn. At the close of his Freshman year he entered Middle- 
bury College in his native State, where three years later he took his 
degree of A. B., and four years afterward that of A. M. In 1866 he 
received from his Alma Mater the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. 
As a student at college, though averse to mathematics, he delighted 
in the '' humanities," and of these his favorite study was the Greek 
tongue, in which he easily excelled. How much his poems— grave 
and gay — are indebted to his Hellenic scholarship, the classical 
reader has not failed to discover. Of the "Roman authors whose 
works were in the college CAirriculum^ his favorite was Horace, to 
whom in wit, fancy, philosophy, geniality, and worldly wisdom he 
has been said to bear a closer resemblance than to any other poet, 
ancient or modern. Of Mr. Saxe in his college days, Dr. Griswold 
says, " he was well known for his manly character, good sense, 
genial humor, and, for an under graduate, large acquaintance with 
30 465 



2 • JOHN G. SAXE. 

literature." He speaks of liim further as " one of the best of con- 
versationists, who wasted more wit in a day, than would set up a 
Yankee PuncJi or a score of Yaiikee Doodles. " It is the privilege 
of the writer, whose good fortune it has been to meet him socially 
on different occasions in later years, to bear witness that the fund 
of wit and wisdom of which Mr. Griswold speaks was not all 
exhausted in his youth, but that in the ripeness of rnaturer years 
he is gifted with, the rare power to make listening a source of 
profit as well as a very great pleasure. 

Having studied law the prescribed term, Mr. Saxe was admitted 
to the bar in 1843, and practiced his profession in Franklin Co., 
until March, 1850, when he removed to Burlington, where he pur- 
chased the Sentinel newspaper, which he conducted for five years. 
Though at no time greatly addicted to politics Mr. Saxe has always 
been identified with the Democratic party, and, in 1851, being 
nominated as their candidate for State Attorney, was -elected to that 
office, beating his "Whig opponent by a small majority. A few years 
later (1859-1860) he was twice the candidate of his party for 
governor ; but with no other success than to run very handsomely 
ahead of a ticket that, by the very disproportion of parties in 
Vermont, was quite certain to be defeated. The first campaign 
gave occasion to a repartee which caused much merriment at the 
time and was widely circulated in the newspapers. Being inter- 
rupted in a public speech by a person in the crowd, who shouted 
out that Mr. Saxe was " too young to be governor ! " the orator 
replied, "the objection is not important — I suspect I shall be old 
enough for the office hy the time I get it!''' 

It is remarkable that Mr, Saxe showed no particular taste for 
poetry while in college. His first essays in verse appeared in the 
Knickerhocker Magazine., several years after his marriage (1811), 
and were written, like many of his subsequent poems, in intervals 
of his labors as lawyer and editor. A small collection appeared 
from the press of Ticknor & Co., Boston, in 1849 ; another, enti- 
tled " The Money King, and Other Poems," in 1859 ; another, eu- 



JOHN a. S AXE. 3 

titled " Clever Stories of many Nations, rendered in Rlijme," an 
illustrated book, in 1865 ; another, entitled " The Masquerade, and 
Other Poems," in 1866. In 1869 all these were gathered in an 
elegant volume called the " Farringford Edition ; " and in 1870 
appeared the " Highgate Edition," including some "Later Poems," 
and being a complete collection of his poems in five hundred pages, 
and the thirty -fourth edition of his poems, reckoning from the first 
issue in 1849. In 1866 a volume of his poems was published by a 
London house, " pirated " from the thirteenth American edition. 
Of this book the Athenceum^ which seldom has a word of appro- 
bation for anything American, says : " Mr. Saxe, as a writer of 
sparkling vers de societe^ has for many years enjoyed a wide popu- 
larity in the United States and ought to meet with a similar accept- 
ance in England." 

We lack space for any sufficient examination and estimate of 
Mr. Saxe's poems ; and must be content with fragments of review 
by other pens. E. P. "Whipple, one of the ablest and most judicious 
of critics, speaking of the longer poems, says, " They abound iu 
sense, shrewdness, and fancy — in sparkling wit, in humor, and good 
humor; and flow on their rythmic and rhyming way with the 
easy abandonment of vivacious conversation;" and he commends 
the shorter pieces as surpassing these " in brilliancy, in keen satire, 
in facility and variety of versification, and in joyousness in spirit." 
Horace Greeley, in a recent elaborate review in tlie New York Trib- 
une^ says : " Mr. Saxe's position in American poetry has been decided 
by the verdict of the public, and is confirmed by the demand for 
many successive editions of his works. His name has been spread 
from the ocean to the mountains, and repeated echoes have made 
it familiar to every tongue. If not the most profound, he is cer- 
tainly the most popular of our native bards. Mr. Saxe's sarcasm 
is usually keen and polished, but never malignant. He exhibits no 
passion for censure: no Byronic cynicism shows him to be ill at 
ease with the world ; he seems like a prosperous gentleman of 
cheerful yesterdays and confident to-morrows.' It may not be 

467 



4 JOHN G. SAXS. 

amiss here to say that Mr. Saxe is no exception to the rule that 
American poets are 'prosperous gentlemen,' and in person and 
property bears no resemblance to the pallid and impecunious poet 
of tradition." 

It is notable that, while Mr. Saxe's earlier poems are nearly all 
satirical or humorous, his later productions are mainly sentimental, 
some, indeed, profoundly emotional and others tenderly pathetic. 
His sonnets and love poems have been declared by a critical 
reader to be " gems — pregnant with poetic feeling and finished with 
consummate art." 

As a post-prandial speaker Mr. Saxe has rare gifts, always com- 
manding the instant and uninterrupted attention of his audience, to 
many of whom the few timely words of the hour are the pleasant 
remembrance of a life-time ; and, though known far more widely as 
a poet, in the higher paths of oratory he has given such substantial 
evidence of power as to be entitled to high rank among those whose 
reputation rests upon tlie solid achievements of men who have 
made speech golden. 

Quitting the law and journalism in 1860, Mr. Saxe has since de- 
voted his time almost exclusively to literature and lecturing. As 
one of the " regular army " of lyceum-lecturers he has spoken over 
twelve hundred times, in prose and verse, in a range of country 
extending from Bangor to San Francisco. He is tall, of robust 
physique ; has a wife and five children, and resides at Albany, 
Kew York. 

468 



GEKEEAL GEOEGE W. OASS. 



BY J. TRAINOR KING. 



ENEEAL GEORGE W. CASS, the president of the consoli- 
%^ dated cliain of railway extending from Pittsburgh to Chi- 

^•^ cago, known as the " Pittsburgh, Fort Wavne, and Chicago 
Railway," was born in Muskingum County, in the State of Ohio, in 
1810, of New England parents, one of whom came to Western Vir- 
ginia, near Parkersburg, in 1794, and the other to Marietta, Ohio, 
in 1801 ; finally locating on a farm, on the Muskingum River, north 
of Zanesville, where the subject of this sketch was born, and lived 
in his youth. Owing to the schools in that then nfew region being 
of the most elementary character, he was sent to Detroit in 1824, 
for the purpose of being educated at the Detroit Academy, a most 
excellent school, then under the charge of Rev. Ashbel Wells. Dur- 
ing his residence in Detroit (1824-27), he was a member of the fam- 
ily of General Lewis Cass, at the time, governor of the Territory of 
Michigan. Having obtained an appointment from his native State 
as a cadet at the United States Military Academy, he entered that 
institution at a period when it had attained, under Colonel S. 
Thayer and Major W. J. Worth, the highest state of discipline and 
efficiency known in its history. From this institution he graduated 
in June, 1832, at the head of his class in the principal studies, and 
among the distinguished five,* in general academic studies. He 
was invited to return to the Military Academy at the fall academic 
session of that year, as one of the professors of mathematics, but 
declined, preferring the duties of a more active life. 

Instead of receiving the two months' leave of absence on graduat- 

* By the regulations of the War Department, the names of the first five iu each class 
lire printed in die Army Register as a mark of distinction. 

469 



2 GENERAL GEORGE W. CASS. 

ing, he was at once ordered to report for duty to General Scott, who 
was then in New York organizing an army to proceed against the 
Indians, who were collected in large numbers in the Northwest, 
under the celebrated Chief, "Black Hawk." Although not yet 
commissioned in the army (having only the rank of cadet), he was 
placed in command of a company of infantry just recruited into the 
service, and assigned to that portion of the army under General 
Twiggs. On the way to the frontier the command of General 
Twiggs was so mucli reduced in numbers by the Asiatic cholera 
(the first year that that scourge made its appearance on this conti- 
nent), that a number of companies were broken up, for the purpose 
of filling others to the proper complement, and thus the number of 
officers was in excess of the demand of the service, and Mr. Cass 
was transferred to the Department of Topographical Engineers. In 
this department he served six months, and was then transferred to 
the Department of Military Engineers, in which he remained until 
October, 1836, when, resigning his j)osition, he received from Gen- 
eral Jackson, then President, an appointment as civil engineer on 
the National Koad, in which capacity he continued until the com- 
pletion of that road, in the States of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and 
Yirginia, and its reception by the governors of those States, respec- 
tively. During this service he erected the first cast iron bridge 
ever built in the United States, over Dnnlap's Creek, a tributary of 
the Monongahela Hiver. 

He was an early and persistent advocate of the improvement of 
the Monongahela River by locks and dams, and by correspondence, 
essays, newspaper communications, and other active eftbrts, contribu- 
ted to the procuring of the charter and organization of a company. 
As engineer for its improvement he made the survey, and located 
and superintended the construction of Locks Nos. 3 and 4. After 
the suspension of the work by the inability of the State of Pennsyl- 
vania to pay its appropriation and the sale of the State stock to pri- 
vate parties, he was a member of the board of managers, and was 
actively instrumental in organizing a company of ample means from 

470 



GENERAL GEORGE W. CASS. 3 

the new shareholders, and the framing of a contract which insured 
the completion of a work, in 1844:, which has been of the highest 
importance to the manufacturing interest of Pittsburgh. 

On the completion of the Monongahela improvement to Browns- 
ville, he organized tlie first steamboat line on that river, and also 
the first fast transportation lines across the mountains, by relays of 
teams, similar to stage lines, thus building up a great carrying trade 
between the East and West, via the Iilonongahela River and 
Pittsburgh. 

In 1849 he established the Adams Express across the mountains 
from Baltimore ; effected the consolidation of all the Adams Express 
lines between Boston and St. Louis, and south to Richmond, in 
1854, and the year following was elected president of the consolida- 
ted company. 

In January, 1856, he was elected president of the Ohio and 
Pennsylvania Railroad Company, then completed to Crestline, and 
earning about $1,000,000 a year. At the time, there were three 
corporations building the three several parts of the line between 
Pittsburgh and Chicago. The two corporations west of Crestline 
had exhausted all their resources, and were unable, without assist- 
ance, to complete the work they had commenced, and were seeking 
aid in different quarters to that end. The men of enterprise and 
wealth at Cleveland, backed by the railroad interest between Cleve- 
land and Buffalo, were about obtaining possession of the road from 
Crestline to Chicago, which, if effected, would have cut off" the 
Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad from Chicago and placed the bus- 
iness interest of Pittsburgh and the Northwest, under the control 
of Cleveland and Buffalo capital. To that date the only railroad 
consolidation which bad been effected in this country was that of the 
New York Central, in which instance all the links were completed, 
in successful working order, and with an entire harmony of interest. 
Not so here ; no similar movement had yet been made, and a large 
number of the Ohio and Pennsylvania stockholders were very decid- 
edly opposed to any such movement ; so much so that at the time the 

471 



4: GENERAL GEORGE W. CASS. 

company was in the greatest need, a large sum of money had to be 
paid out in the purchase of the interest of recusant stockholders. 
Notwithstanding the opposition in the board, among the stockhold- 
ers, and with a portion of the public, the necessary legislation was 
obtained, and the articles of consolidation signed in less than three 
months after the plan was conceived. Out of this consolidation — so 
quickly conceived, so promptly executed, and so persistently perse- 
vered in through the greatest of difficulties — has grown one of the 
most magnificent railroad properties in this country, and which is 
destined always to be one of the great and controlling arteries of 
trade and commerce of the western world. The mind revolts at 
■what would have been the most unfortunate position of Pittsburgh 
if the consolidation had failed, and Cleveland and Buffalo had ob- 
tained control of the roads between Crestline and Chicago. 

For the past thirteen years General Cass has been the president 
and ruling genius of this consolidated company (now the Pitts- 
burgh, Fort Wayne, and Chicago), with the exception of a short in- 
terval, when he voluntarily withdrew. During this interval he was 
appointed, in 1859, a member of the board of visitors to West Point, 
and in June, 1870, was one of the most prominent railroad repre- 
eentatives at the reunion of graduates. General Cass's whole life 
has been one of public usefulness. His entire time and energies have 
been employed for the benefit of the whole public, and particularly 
for that of his native State and Pennsylvania, and all his under- 
takings have been marked with success. He is a strictly business 
man, practical in conception, and industrious and prompt in execu- 
tion. In manner he is courteous, with pleasing address and impres- 
sive presence. As a railroad manager he has few compeers, the 
Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, and Chicago being acknowledged one of, 
if not the best systematized road in the United States. I believe 
it has thus far, fortunately, been more free from accidents than any 
other road of the same length in the world. How much this has 
depended upon the minutiae of system, and the quality and order 
of the machinery, is hard to determine, but certain it is that execu- 

472 



GENERAL GEORGE W. CASS. 5 

tive ability in the management of railroads has much to do in 
protecting the public from the wholesale butchery of passengers 
with which we are so often sliocked. The general's undivided 
attention is given to the interests of the road. He resides on its 
line some eleven miles below Pittsburgh, — where he has one of the 
mo. t tjistefully arranged places about the city, whose grounds and 
adornments would themselves form a subject for an interesting de- 
"criptive sketch, out would be out of place here, — and comes to the 
city at nine in the morning, returning home at four in tlie afternoon, 
having very little intercourse with the citizens except on business ; 
iot however from any want of inclination, but from lack of time. 
From i.he time h(> reaches his office until he leaves it, it is besieged 
with all classes of people, on all manner of business. He is what 
would usunlly be called a popular man, never making an enemy 
unless in the lino of duty ; is generous in the distribution of his means 
(of which he has ample) to charitable purposes, and commands now, 
and ever has, the respect and confidence of a discriminating public^ 
to a degree accorded to few men in this community. 

473 



JOSEPH SIIlTGEELT. 



Oj^KETCHES of self-made men, though seldom abounding in 
incidents of a sensational or dramatic character, are still 
fraught with interest and read with avidity, inasmuch as steady 
perseverance and untiring energy are qualities indicative of courage 
and determination, characteristics to which the great public heart 
always in the right place beats a ready response. 

To no man more than to Joseph Singerly, the subject of this sketch, 
do the qualities which command the world's respect and admira- 
tion belong. Erom the position of a carpenter's apprentice he has, 
by slieer force of will and untiring effort, made for himself a name 
among the prominent self-made men of the country. Starting in 
life without any capital save that of energy and honesty, he has 
become not only one of Philadelphia's richest men, but also one of 
the benefactors of his native city. 

As his parents were people of small means, and Philadelphia m 
his youth was without her present Public School system, his educa- 
tion was gained in the evenings at home without the aid of a 
teaclier. By doing overwork he obtained the rheans of purchasing 
books, and in this way he not only laid the foundation of a good 
education in the studies usually pursued in schools, but he also 
became a good draughtsman and eventually well skilled in archi- 
tecture. 

Being gifted with a comprehensive and assimilating mind he so 
improved himself by reading and observation, that he has since 
found himself quite at home and at ease in the company and con- 
versation of the refined and cultivated circle to which his wealth, 

475 



2 JOSEPH SINGERLT. 

benevolence, and noble qualities of head and heart have given hira 
the entree. 

Mr. Singerly was born August 1, 1810, in that portion of Phila- 
delphia formerly known as the Northern Liberties. When about 
seventeen years of age he was indentured to a carpenter whose 
place of business was on Fourth Street near Buttonwood. His em- 
ployer was an honest, kind, merry soul, a favorite with every one, 
and with this good m^n Joseph Singerly served his apprenticeship 
and became — what so few young men of the present day can boast 
of — a thorough and accomplished workman. Having served out 
his time with honor to himself and profit to his employer, Mr. Sin- 
gerly soon commenced business on his own account. 

In 1840 he removed to Crown Street and Girard Avenue (Ken- 
sington). His obliging manners, and promptness in executing 
orders soon secured for him a good business. Speedily he became 
largely engaged in extensive operations — large founderies, public 
halls, water-works, market-houses, and other corporation work for 
the Districts of Kensington and Richmond, — and fulfilled his con- 
tracts so honestly and satisfactorily that other large contracts soon 
poured in upon him. So surely does prompt recognition of worth 
and talent and energ-? follow honest endeavor. 

About 1847 he cc :: acted to build the new hall for the District 
of Richmond, and 1 e next year he erected the market-houses now 
standing on Girard Avenue, near to Frankford Road, extending 
westward. About the same time he received the contract for the 
erection of the Kensington Water- Works on Sixth Street, above York 
Road, as well as for the Engine Works on the Delaware, above Wood 
Street Wharf. These works stand as monuments to his good faith 
and honesty, as well as to his sound judgment and superior work 
manship. The first iron building erected in this city, where iron 
buildings are so abundant, was built by Mr. Singerly at the north- 
east corner of Third and Dock streets, for the Penn Mutual Life In- 
surance Company. Soon after he erected the brown-stone building 
at the northwest corner of I ourth and Walnut streets for Charles 

476 



JOSEPH SINGERLY. 3 

Harlan, Esq., a noble structure that reflects credit alike on owner, 
architect, and builder. 

As early as 1851 he had amassed quite a considerable fortune, and 
purchased and retired to a country seat of ten acres on Harrowgate 
Lane, lie soon discovered, however, that his forte was not that of 
a private gentleman, and, after a quiet life of some four or five years, 
he again returned to business. 

The first of the passenger railway companies to overcome popu- 
lar prejudice, clamor, and ignorance, was the Fifth and Sixth streets. 
This company secured a charter but could not get a contractor bold 
enough to take charge of the work, until Mr. Singerly, with his 
energy, courage, and pecuniary resources, came to their aid and un- 
dertook to build the road for them. This was in 1857, and the op- 
position to passenger railways at that time seems to us of this pro- 
gressive period as absurd and preposterous in the extreme ; yet the 
majority of Philadelphians were violently indignant at the pro- 
posed innovation, and curses both loud and deep were poured upon 
the head of the daring contractor, 

Mr. Singerly, notwithstanding threats, and in utter contempt of 
prophecies that the enterprise would ruin him socially and financial- 
ly, carried out the enterprise to a successful issue, and demonstrated 
beyond a doubt to the public mind the practical utility, convenience, 
and necessity of passenger railways, and by so doing has justly won 
for himself a large fortune as well as the tlianks of his fellow-citi- 
zens, whose property he has immensely enhanced in value by the 
extended facilities which the passenger railways have given to the 
business interests of the city. He contracted for and built the 
Market Street Passenger Eailway track, and equipped the same ; 
and, having completed this work satisfactorily, he undertook the 
contract for the Spruce and Pine Street road, laying the track, 
building the depot, and furnishing cars, horses, harness, etc., and 
all else required, and then handed the completed work to the 
company. 

In 1859 he secured the charter for the Germantown Pas- 

477 



4 JOSEPH SINGERLT. 

seiiger Railway, better known as the Fourth and Eighth Street 
road. 

This road extended from Germantown to Dickerson Street a cir- 
cuit of nineteen miles. It has a capital of five hundred thousand 
dollars, with bonds issued to the amount of two hundred and fifty 
thousand. He projected, built, furnished, and put into working 
order the entire concern out of his own private purse. His obli- 
gations at that time were immense, as he had on hand also the con- 
tract for building the Chestnut and Walnut Street road. He com- 
pleted both these enterprises, but a crisis coming on in the finan- 
cial world he was compelled to make a temporary suspension. He 
was indebted to the Phoenix Iron Works at this time about sixty 
thousand dollars. It was demanded by the secretary of the com- 
pany that he should surrender all his assets. This Mr. Singerly 
positively declined doing ; saying that he would treat all his credi- 
tors alike. Very soon after his indomitable energy and courage 
enabled him to free himself from all indebtedness, he paying dollar 
for dollar with interest. 

In 1865 Mr. Singerly built a palatial mansion and stables of 
brown stone. This splendid dwelling is located at the northwest 
corner of Broad and Jefferson streets, and here he lives in the 
enjoyment of that ease and luxury so honestly earned by a life of 
industry and integrity. 

During the same year, the Girard Avenue Railway was bought 
and rebuilt by Mr. Singerly, and from being the worst-built and 
worst-managed concern of the kind in the city, it has become, under 
the present management and supervision of this Napoleon of con- 
tractors, one of the most successful and best paying of our roads. 
He has merged it into the Germantown Road, which, with this 
addition, is now twenty-six miles in extent, and its capital increased 
from $500,000 to $1,000,000. 

We suppose Mr. Singerly's railroad enterprises may now be 
considered completed. That they have contributed largely to the 
wealth and business importance of Philadelphia, no one will deny; 

478 



JOSEPH SUTGERLT. 5 

or that the man wlio lias carried to a successful issue so stupendous 
a work is deserving the thanks and blessings of his fellow-citizens. 
Such will be the judgment of all unprejudiced minds. 

His next great venture was the purchase of the Abby Turner 
estate, on the grounds of which Camp Cadwalader was located 
during the war. It contains one hundred acres and cost $225,000. 
This land is now worth $G00,000, On the property he has erected 
thirty-six first class dwellings, at a cost of $12,000 each. This is 
but a commencement of the work Mr. Singerly has in view, as he 
intends to put improvements on his purchase that will render it 
treble its present value. There is room on this estate for 2,000 
dwellings, and it is located within five minutes' walk of several 
passenger railways. 

Mr. Singerly is a man whose temperament gives evidence of the 
energy and industry which has always distinguished him. He has 
a broad, high forehead ; fair hair, almost imperceptibly touched 
with gray ; quick, intelligent light, blue eyes, which bespeak his 
genial and kindly nature, as well as they indicate sincerity and 
earnestness of purpose. He is firm in his friendships, ever ready 
to lend a helping hand to those needing his aid and influence, pro- 
vided always, the parties seeking that aid or influence be indus- 
trious, self-hel])ing, and self-respecting. He is not one to sympa- 
thize with idleness and inefiiciency. To secure his esteem and 
help, it is necessary to be honest, industrious, and persevering. 

Henry Ward Beecher has said " that every man has a garden 
within himself, but with many it is a poor one." The garden 
within Mr. Singerly is a rich and well-cultivated spot, where foul 
or evil weeds find neither root nor mercy, but where all health- 
giving, pleasant and perfumed flowers flourish in beautiful luxuri- 
ance and rich profusion. 

All persons of quickly intuitive natures at once recognize the 
benevolent and sympathetic spirit which illumes the face, and looks 
out from the kindly eyes of this self-made man. No wail of dis- 
tress, no moan of agony, ever falls unheeded upon his ears ; his 

479 



6 JOSEPH SINGERLY. 

heart is " open as day to melting charity," and it is impossible for 
him to withstand any appeal to his feelings or to his purse. 

Often the victim of impostors, he as often resolves never again 
to be deceived into any tale of distress however pathetic, but he 
re-resolves and will die the same warm-hearted, generous, sympa- 
thetic man that he has always lived. 

Perhaps no one living man more heartily detests cant and hy- 
pocrisy than he. He is stern and sharp with those he detects in 
any act of fraud or deception, and, although genial beyond meas- 
are to friends, he is quick and decisive in his dealings with his 
enemies. He is courted in society for his jovial nature, and his 
large and varied information has the happy quality of putting at 
ease all who approach him. Most men who have battled their 
way from poverty to wealth and social distinction have a brusque 
or self-asserting manner. There is no trace of this in Mr. Sin- 
gerly ; on the contrary, he is urbane, gentle, and affable in the 
extreme. 

It would scarcely be right to close this sketch without mention- 
ing the fact that Mr. Singerly contemplates a most noble work of 
benevolence, to which he intends, at no distant date, to give his 
time, attention, and means ; but we are not at liberty to go into 
particulars regarding it, though we are happy in being able to 
state that he proposes to bring to the execution of this grand work 
all his business tact and energy, and will not leave the carrying 
out of the project to indolent and inefficient executors, who would 
probably be a score or two of years in completing his designs, and 
then go directly in opposition to his expressed will in the matter. 

We know of no other standard to judge men by, than that given 
in the Bible, " by their fruits ye shall know them." If this is the 
test of righteousness, then is Mr. Singerly a righteous man. We 
know nothing of his particular creed or belief, nor do we care to 
know them, for religion is more a life than a creed, and " he can't 
be wrong whose life is in the right." 

480 



GEK SAMUEL P. HEII^TZELMAK. 



,'^A 




jAMUEL P. HEINTZELMAN was born at Manheim, Lan- 
caster County, Pennsylvania, on the 30th September, 1805. 
As his name indicates, he is of German descent on the 
father's side, his ancestors having been among the first settlers of 
the vilLage of his birth. As a boy he attended the seliools of 
Manheim and Marietta. In 1822, through the influence of James 
Buchanan, since President, he was appointed a cadet at West Point, 
where he remained until his graduation in 1826, his rank of scholar- 
ship being the seventeenth in a class of forty-two. His first commis- 
sion was that of brevet second lieutenant in the Third Infantry. 

The history of any young oflicer in tlie army at that time was a 
monotony of changes from one frontier post to another. After the 
usual furlough on leaving "West Point, Ileintzelman was ordered 
to Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, Missouri, and during the next six 
or seven years was on garrison duty at that post and at Fort 
Leavenworth; Fort Mackinac, Michigan ; Fort Gratiot, Michigan : 
and at Fort Brady, Wisconsin, except for the two years from April, 
1832, to May, 1834, when he was detached on the important topo- 
graphical duty of a survey for the improvement of the navigation 
of the Tennessee River. His full commission as second lieutenant 
in the Second Infantry bears the same date with that of his brevet 
on graduation, July 1, 1826, and he was commissioned as first 
lieutenant, March 4, 1833, which was rather rapid promotion in 
those days, when our small army was a family in which only as the 
fathers died out could the youngsters succeed to tlieir shoulder- 
straps. Ordered to the South, the scene of the Cherokee and Sem- 
inole difficulties, Ileintzelman saw considerable service in Florida 
31 481 



2 SAMUEL P. HEINTZELM .VX. 

and Georgia, acting as adjutant to Major Kirbj in the.expedition to 
Mosquito Inlet, Florida, where he commanded the artillery of the 
Steamer Dolphin and covered the landing of the troops. During 
this period of his schooling in field duty, he served in the quarter- 
master's department in Florida and at Columbus, Georgia, his execu- 
tive talent having led to his release from the routine of the line. 
He was commissioned as captain in the Second Infantry, November 
4, 1838, but was retained on staff service as quartermaster and in 
investigating Florida claims until 1842. 

He was ordered to Buffalo in 1843, where he mart'ied. In 1S45 
he commanded Fort Gratiot, Michigan ; was thence assigned as 
district quartermaster at Detroit ; and thence sent to Louisville, 
Kentucky, to organize troops for the Mexican war, and aftera 
short time passed in the recruiting service we find him in 1847-48 
in Mexico, engaged in the perilous and vexatious duty of defend- 
ing convoys from Yera Cruz. The actions in which he was 
engaged were those of the Paso las Ovejas, against Padre Jua- 
rauta, September 12, 1847 ; at the battle of Huamantla, October 
9, 1847, and the action of Atixco, October 19, 1847. He received 
bis commission as brevet major, with the date October 9, 1847, 
" for ffallant and meritorious conduct in the battle of Hua- 
mantla, Mexico." 

Peturning from the fields of Mexico he was stationed at Fort 
Hamilton, New York Harbor, but in 1848 was ordered to California 
in command of troops. The voyage was around Cape Horn in a 
sailing vessel, thus adding something to an already varied experi- 
ence. He found himself again on frontier duty on his arrival in 
California, where he was placed in command of the Southern Dis- 
trict and stationed at San Diego. His real station, however, was 
in the field. In 1850-51 he led an expedition against the Yuma 
Indians, and established Fort Yuma at the junction of the Gila and 
Colorado rivers, a most valuable frontier post, although " John 
PlKEnix " found the climate so hot, that he insisted that there was 
only a piece of brown paper between one's feet and the infernal 

482 



SAMUEL P. HEINTZELMAN. 3 

regions. From tliis fort many sallies and scouts were made, and in 
1S52 a snccessful and relentless raid against the Yuraas terminated 
hostilities. For his services in that difficult department Heintzel- 
man was brevetted lieutenant-colonel, under date of December 19, 
1851. His commission as full major dates March 3, 1855. In. 
1854 he had been relieved, in accordance with the usual custom,, 
and assigned to recruiting service at Newport Barracks, Kentucky, 
as respite from the severe duty to which he had been so constantly 
subjected. But in 1859 he was ordered to Fort Duncan, Texas, 
from whence he was transferred to Camj) Yerde. Even in this 
hopelessly dull region he distinguished himself by an expedition 
against the Mexican marauder Cortinas, who had selected the wrong 
side of the Rio Grande for his raids, and sent him back with a loss of 
several hundreds of men. There were a number of severe combats 
in which Heintzelman participated, among them one near Fort 
Brown, December 14, 1859 ; and another at Ringgold Barracks, 
December 21. Just after these events came the mutterings of the 
approaching rebellion. General Twiggs was his superior officer, 
and, dreading the surrender that was afterward made by Twiggs, 
Heintzelman procured leave of absence, and came north in January, 
1861, just as the war of the rebellion had become inevitable. 

Now opened a wider sphere of action. During the twenty-five 
years that Heintzelman had passed as a soldier, all his achievements 
and all his earnest toil for the country had been in obscure battles 
upon distant frontiers, or in the weary routine of an army on a 
peace footing. He was honored at the War Department, and had a 
high reputation among soldiers, but it was mostly confined to them. 
In coming North in the winter of 1860-61, he knew very well that 
he would never resume his old relations. He abandoned a silver 
mine in Arizona, known as the Heintzelman Mine, which was just 
beginning to work successfully under his brother-in-law, S. H. 
Lathrop, who subsequently entered the Union army, and died of 
yellow fever in Texas in 1867. 

At the North Heintzelman found a high tone of Union feeling, 

483 



4 SAMUEL P. HEINTZELMAN. 

in which lie fully participated. He assisted General Scott in the 
dsfense of Washington at the inauguration of Lincoln, was sent to 
New York, April 8th, as general superintendent of the recruiting 
service in New York Harbor, but was soon recalled (May 1st), and 
assigned to duty as Acting Inspector-General of the Department of 
Washington, where he was commissioned colonel of the Seventeenth 
Infantry, on May 14th. On the 21:th of May he was in immediate 
command of the first "invasion of Yirginia" under General Mans- 
field, the center crossins^ the Lonfj; Bridare under his direction. 
Before this, however, that is, on the 17th of May, 1861, Heintzelman 
was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers. He opened the 
actual combats of the war in a skirmish at Fairfax Court- House, 
July 17, 1861, and led his division in the first battle of Bull Run, 
July 21, 1861, his command winning its share of the scanty laurels 
of that day, early in which Heintzelman was severely wounded in 
the fore-arm and elbow. He remained in the saddle wliile it was 
dressed, continued in active and heroic command, sullenly retreat- 
ing at the rear of the rout, and when, on that gloomiest of rainy 
Mondays, he dismounted at his door in Washington, he had been 
twenty-seven hours on the back of his horse, wounded, worn, and 
wet. His wound proved to be so severe as to permanently cripple 
the right arm. It was not until August 2d that he could be re- 
turned to duty, when he was assigned the command of a division 
holding the left of the defenses of Washington, under McClellan, 
with his head-quarters at Fort Lyon, near Alexandria, where he 
remained until the opening of the campaign of 1862 in the suc- 
ceeding March. 

On the organization of the Army of the Potomac, Heintzelman 
was assigned to the command of the Third Corps, consisting of three 
divisions, under the command, respectively, of Generals Fitz John 
Porter, C. S. Hamilton, and Joseph Hooker. Arrived on the pen- 
insula, Porter's division was detached and a new corps organized 
for him, leaving Heintzelman with about 80,000 men, led by the 
two most dashing and ambitious generals in tlie service, Kearny 

484 



SAMUEL P. HEINTZELMAN. ' 5 

and Hooker. Ileintzelmaii was first in front of Yorktown, and 
believed that an immediate attack would carry the place, and with 
that purpose was pushing on when McClellan's arrival halted him 
in front of the works. After their evacuation by the Confederates, 
May 4th, Ileintzelman was put in the advance, and on the 5th 
fought the battle of Williamsburg, the first substantial victorj' of 
the war, and the first instance in the Army of the Potomac when 
entire reliance was placed upon volunteer troops, and that in an 
all-day fight of the most desperate character. At its close the New 
Jersey troops used the cartridges of their dead comrades. For hia 
brilliant services on that day Ileintzelman was commissioned 
major-general of volunteers, dating on the day of the battle. 

Arrived upon the Chickahominy, the first serious battle was that of 
Seven Pines, in which Casey's division was driven and badly beaten 
by surprise on the 31st of May. Heintzelman's corps advanced 
to l^is assistance, saved the day, and on Sunday, June 1st, took the 
offensive in the battle of Fair Oaks. He drove the enemy to 
within four miles of Richmond, when he reluctantly obeyed an 
order from General McClellan to fall back. At that time the 
utmost panic prevailed in Richmond. The policy of delay jjrevailed 
until it was too late to strike. Heintzelinan was brevetted briga- 
dier-general United States Army for his victory at Fair Oaks, the 
only hrevet he received during the war, all his other promotions 
being full commissions, and there being no vacant full brigadier- 
ships in the regular army. 

Now came the "change of base," or retreat from the Chicka- 
hominy to the James. In that momentous seven days, Heintzel- 
man's corps fought with distinguished bravery at the Orcliards, 
June 25tli ; Savage Station, June 29th ; Glendale, June 30th, when 
the general was contused ; at Malvern Hill, July 1st, and in the 
skirmish at Harrison's Landing, July 2d. This long list of bloody 
fights Avas supplemented, in the northern Virginia campaign, l>y 
the battle of Manassas, August 29th, and Chantilly, September 1, 
1862. At the close of the last battle General Kearny was killed, 

485 



6 SAMUEL P. HEINTZELMAN. 

and witli Inm the Third Corps lost one of its two heroic generals of 
division. On the 2d of September the corps camped again at Fort 
Lyon. The 40,000 men who had left tlie same place in March 
were reduced to 6,000, hut the corjys had never heen heaten in any 
action. 

From the 9th of September, 1862, to the 13th of October, 1863, 
General Ueintzelman commanded the defenses south of Wash- 
ington and, until October 13th, the Department of Washington, 
his troops being known as the Twenty-second Corps. The position 
was one requiring great executive ability, and was full of harassing 
cares, not the least being the handling of the vast bodies of recruits 
and convalescents constantly pouring through the capital, and the 
weeding out of the great number no longer fit for service. At the 
Same time his lines were constantly annoyed by guerrilla' parties, 
and he was engaged in organizing raids and maintaining 
communications. 

After a period of inaction General Ueintzelman was assigned, 
January 2, 1864, to the command of the Northern Department, 
consisting of the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan, 
with head-quarters at Columbus, Ohio, — another difficult position, 
During this service he suppressed, hy the strong arm, the secret pr- 
ganization known as " The Sons of Liberty," and in the second 
•great uprising of 1864 aided in organizing, arming, and sending off 
40,000 of the militia of Oliio in the space of two weeks, the other 
States doing almost as well. On the 1st of October Heintzelraan 
was relieved, and during the remainder of the war was waiting 
orders, or on court-martial duty. At the close of the war the Major 
Heintzelman of 1861 held the following living commissions, viz.: 
Colonel of the Seventeenth Infantry, United States Army; Major- 
General of United States Yolunteers, and Brevet Major-General 
United States Army, the latter dating March 13, 1865, " for gallant 
and meritorious conduct at Williamsburg, May 5, 1862." 

He was mustered out of the volunteer service August 24, 1865, 
resumed command of his regiment at Hart's Island, New York 
i - 486 



SAMUEL P. HEINTZELMAN. !J 

Harbor, September 29th, remaining there until April, 1866, when 
with his regiment he was ordered to Texas, where he took eommarid 
of the central district, with head-quarters at San Antonio, and sub- 
sequently commanded the district of Texas entirely. Came North 
in May, 1867, he was alternately on leave of absence or serving on 
examination or retiring boards until February 22, 1869, when he 
was retired with the rank of colonel for length of service, having 
then been an active officer in the army no less than forty-three 
years, or adding his cadetship forty-seven years. 

The retired rank assigned him was in accordance with the regu- 
lations of the service, but there was a universal feeling that it Avas 
injustice, or at least an insufficient recognition of merit, and Con- 
gress — an act without precedent in army annals — passed a joint 
resolution retiring Samuel P. Heintzelman with the full rank of 
Major-General, United States Army, for wounds received at First 
Bull Run, 1862. This, with a mention of resolutions once tendered 
him by the Legislature of Pennsylvania for distinguished services in 
the Mexican war, completes his military record, save that he retains 
his old associations as a member of the military order of the Loyal 
Legion of the United States, of the Society of the Third Corps, and 
of the Army of the Potomac. 

Such is the record of a long life devoted to country. It includes 
a w^eary period of slow promotion in times of comparative peace, 
supplemented by rapid successes when the opportunity of a great 
war came. It was only in active campaign, in stern, hard fighting, 
that Heintzelman achieved triumphs. He was no holiday soldier, 
but though he was sometimes nicknamed "gray and grim "-—all 
good generals have a sobriquet— he had a peculiar faculty of winning 
without courting the affections of those who served upon his. staff. 
Without the slightest sycophancy to superiors, or ostentatious conde 
scension to inferiors, he held the confidence of one and the love of 
the other. He never shirked a hardship himself, and never inflicted 
one, except when the exigencies of the service demanded it. 
Happy in his refined social and domestic relations, his moral 

487 



8 SAMUEL P. HEINTZELMAN. 

influence was always pure, as liis charity for the faults of othera 
was broad. Impatient in inaction, hot and impetuous when the 
fight was on, yet never reckless or careless of the lives of his men, 
he had at once the coolness, the determined bravery, the unsel- 
fishness, and the esprit that make the true soldier, and his career 
must be regarded as one of the most distinguished and success- 
ful in the Army of the Union. Let his record speak. Eulogy 
is idle. 

488 



JUDGE JAMES O. SPEE'OER 




^^^ 



UDGE SPENCEE, the subject of this sketch, is a native of 
the village of Fort Covington, County of Franklin, State 
f^^^ of ISTew York. His father, the late Judge James B. Spen- 
cer, was one of tlie early settlers of Franklin County, and was a 
prominent and respected citizen and recognized political leader in 
the northern part of the State, having held many important posi- 
tions, including that of judge, and representative in the State and 
National Legislatures. He also distinguished himself in the war 
of 1812, with Great Britain, participating actively in all the 
important engagements of that contest that occurred on the 
northern frontier, including the battle of Plattsburgh. In pol- 
itics, he was a Democrat of the Jefferson, Madison, and Jackson 



'5 

fichool. 

He was the personal friend and colleague of Silas Wright, and 
was recognized and appreciated by that great and upright man, 
eminent statesman, and sagacious leader, and by other prominent 
Democrats of the State of JSTew York, as an intelligent, prudent, and 
reliable political coadjutor, in the struggles of more than a quarter 
of a century to secure and perpetuate Democratic ascendency in the 
State. He also enjoyed the confidence and esteem of all his fellow- 
citizens who knew him, without regard to political differences. He 
died in the year 1848, at the age of 68. 

This branch of the Spencer family, and that represented by the 
late Chief-Justice Ambrose Spencer, and his son Hon. John C. 
Spencer, were kindred, and claimed a common ancestry. The fam- 
ily emigrated to New York from Connecticut, but their original 

489 



2 JAMES C. SPENCER. 

settlement in the New World was in Rhode Island, springing from 
an English ancestor who settled in that colony at an early day. 
The family of the present Judge Spencer, who is the subject of this 
sketch, were, on the maternal side, purely Irish. His grandfather 
emigrated to this country from Ireland prior to the American 
Revolution, and served his adopted country, as a soldier, during 
the War of Independence. 

Judge S., before he had fully attained manhood, was thrown 
upon his own resources, and acquired his education and profession 
mainly by his own exertions. He commenced the practice of law 
in 1850, in his native county, and soon became popular and 
respected in his profession. 

In 1854 he removed to Ogdensburgh, St. Lawrence County, and 
with Judge William C. Brown formed. the legal firm of Brown & 
Spencer, which for many years enjoyed a successful and profitable 
practice in the courts of northern Kew York. In 1857 he was 
appointed United States District Attorney for the northern district 
of New York. 

The performance of the duties of that office extended his profes- 
sional acquaintance into nearly every county of the State. After 
the expiration of his term of office he removed to the city of New 
York, and entered upon the practice of his profession in that city. 
His energy and industry, added to his former professional reputa- 
tion in the State, soon brought him clients and a successful business. 
In 1867 he entered into partnership with Hon,' Charles A. Rapallo 
and other legal gentlemen, under the firm name of Rapallo & 
Spencer, which became familiar to the public, and in the courts, as 
associated with some of the most important causes of the day, in- 
cluding the famous Erie controversy, and other equally important 
litigations connected with railroad and steamship companies. The 
existence of that firm terminated with the election of its senior 
members to the Bench — Mr. Rapallo to the Court of Appeals, and 
Mr. Spencer to the Superior Court of New York. The professidnal 
career of Judge Spencer in the State, before he sought a practice in 

490 



JAMES 0. SPENCER. 3 

New York City, was a successful and honorable one, and liiglily 
illustrative of what integrity of character, united with energy and 
industry, and a fair amount of ability, will always accomplish for 
its possessor. The nomination and election of Judge Spencer to the 
Bench of the Superior Court was gratifying to his numerous friends 
in the city and State. In northern, western, and central New 
York, tlie scene of his former professional labors, the press and 
the prominent members of the bench and bar, without regard 
to political differences, spoke of the event with approbation, 
and commended the action of the leaders of the City Democ- 
racy, in securing his nomination and election, as a just and wise 
recognition of personal and professional merit, and a rare and 
fortunate selection of a gentleman so eminently qualified for the 
position. 

He was elected to the Superior Court Bench by a vote of 81,521, 
and a majority vote of 51,079. 

Judge Spencer is still a young man, quite young for one assum- 
ing the duties and respoijsibilities which were formerly discharged 
by judges so eminent for their learning and wisdom as Oakley, 
Jones, Iloifraan, Duer, Kobertson, and others, who occupied the 
Bench of the Superior Court in the maturity of their years, and the 
perfection of their experience and abilities. 

But he takes with him to his new position his energetic and in- 
dustrious habits, and these, united with his characteristic urbanity 
and courtesy, his admitted integrity, and a patient performance of 
duty, will in time win him the reputatioa of serving the public 
well, and will make him deserving of the continued confidence and 
esteem, which he has so soon won. of his judicial brethren, as also of 
the members of the bar doing business before him and the suitors 
whom they represent. It is predicted by those whose opinions aro 
entitled to the highest consideration, that he has before him a bright 
and honorable future as a judge, should he, by continuance on the 
Bench, enjoy the opportunity of acquiring that discipline and ex- 
perience without which no man, whatever his natural abilities and 

491 



4 JAMES C. SPENCER. , 

theoretic knowledge, can be fitted for a prompt, decided, and intel- 
ligent performance of judicial duties. 

These qualities he already displays to a degree which gives assur- 
ance of a rapid adaptation to the highest demands and noblest 
aims of his position. 

492 



"^'' 





J. S. T. STfEANAHAN. 



^-iT^^ 



i '' ii3>'^ selecting as a man of progress the Hon. J. S. T. Stranahan, 
^M^ an analytical view of the elements of his character not only 

'^'^^^ justifies that selection, but gives a comprehensive grasp of 
tliat character and forms a key to his history. His is not the 
.character of the man who has progressed to the power only of the 
capitalist by the accumulation of mites, so often held up as a worthy 
example to youth. This is exemplified so early in his history that 
it is evident that it is inherent in his nature and not the result of 
a larger dealing in later life. Left at the age of eight years with 
a patrimony of a few hundred dollars, he subsequently waived all 
right to this in favor of the education of his sister, trusting to his 
own abilities to make his own way. 

With a view of life and life's afiairs of a large and comprehensive 
scope, he is eminently a dealer in large things. Adding to this a 
quick perception amounting almost to intuition, that "golden 
grasp,-' of things as they are, in unclothed, uncolored reality, and a 
conviction that successful action must be in accordance witli the 
proverbial stubbornness of facts, the incidental and inconsequent 
sink in his estimation into their proper, relation to the more impor- 
tant, and make him necessarily the man of truth or reality and 
hence reliability. He might be true from principle, he might be 
true from taste ; he inust be, from the construction of his njind ; 
and it is interesting to see this characteristic cropping out in 
all his traits and even ynahincj the events of his life. Faith in tlie 
result of a given line of action, and a patient Avaiting therefor, is 
one of its outcroppings. It gives him great executive ability and, 
by enaljling him to skillfully retouch the point at issue, freed from 

493 



2 J. S. T. STRANAHAN. 

tlie prejudices of differing parties, a conciliatory power arises from 
it united with a lack of personal feeling. Said an eminent judge, 
" Mr. Stranahan does not know the meaning of the word selfishness 
as applied to his own practice." It secures success to his undertak- 
ings. " You are always successful, Stranahan ! " broke forth a prom- 
inent citizen of Brooklyn to him upon the successful issue of one of 
his public measures, strongly opposed by a local interest. But he 
has been successful only when upon close scrutiny the verdict 
would be that any man would be successful under the same circum- 
.stances, viz., with all the honorable elements of success upon his 
side. But there lies his power, in the perception of those circum- 
stances and disposition to place himself under them. • " Honorable," 
said an eminent divine of him in conversation with the writer a 
short time since, "I have known him for twenty-five years, and 
I think it a moral impossibility for James S. T. Stranahan to do a 
dishonorable thing." 

Thus though he has been in political life, and therefore of a party, 
Mr. Stranahan could never be a partisan. This has given him, a 
Kepublican, the confidence, to some extent, of the party opposed 
in politics. Hence when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise 
aroused the North in 185i he, though a Kepublican, was sent to 
Congress from a Democratic district. 

Such is he of whom we caught a glimpse in his boyhood giv- 
ing his patrimony to his sister. That boyhood was passed on 
the hills of Peterboro' in central New York, whither his father 
had emigrated from Connecticut which had been the home of his 
ancestors for several generations. There, in the wholesome in- 
fluence of the home of the farmer and thrifty owner of mills 
of various kinds, he passed his youtli from the time of his birth, 
April 25, 1808, to the death of his father in 1816. His widowed 
mother soon married again and, alternating his winters and sum- 
mers in attending school and aiding his step-father in the opera- 
tions of farming and stock raising, he passed the time until, at the 
age of seventeen, he assumed the responsibility of his own sup- 

494 



J. S. T. STRANAHAN. 3 

port. Further education in the academies of the country, to 
which was added the discipline of one season of teaching, fitted 
him for the duties of civil engineer. But abandoning this in a 
larger view of opening trade with tlie Indians, lie visited in 1S27-8 
the region of the Upper Lakes. But after several interviews 
with General Lewis Cass, then Governor of the Territory of Mich- 
igan, and several journeys of exploration in the .then Western 
wilderness, he abandoned the project and formed a partnership with 
some gentlemen of Albany for dealing in wool. In 1832, however, 
Gerrit Smith, a prominent capitalist as well as philanthropist, who 
had known him from his earliest years, induced him to found a 
manufacturing village in a township owned by him in Oneida 
County. To huild a town was a work that gave full scope to Mr. 
Stranahan's powers, which had had as yet, however, the develop- 
ment of only twenty-four years' experience. But he made it a suc- 
cess, so that the town (Florence) increased from a population of a 
few hundreds to that of two or three thousand. Fj"om Florence he 
was sent to the Assembly in 1838, elected on the Whig ticket from 
a Democratic county, and, though comparatively young, he was 
judged a fitting compeer for the men of ability, an unusual num- 
ber of whom were gathered in that Assembly, owing to the political 
struggle connected with the suspension of specie payments and the 
agitation of the Sub-Treasury Act urged upon Congress by the then 
President, Martin Van Buren. 

In 1840 he removed to Newark, N. J., and became largely in- 
terested in the construction of railroads. He was among the first 
who, by taking stock in payment for construction, became owners 
and hence controllers of the roads they built. 

In 1848 Mr. Stranahan was elected Alderman of Brooklyn, to 
which city he had removed in ISll ; was nominated, but defeated 
in the election for Mayor in 1851 ; in 1854 was sent to Congress. 
As a legislator for the city Mr. Stranahan ever had a careful regard 
for the great public and private interests intrusted to his care, and 
in Congress he was laborious and faithful to the country at large, 

495 



Q J. S. T. STRANAHAN. 

uiaicii, affording miles of boulevards two hundred and ten feet in 
width. 

Criticism that would be adverse to him testifies unwittingly to 
his merit. Said a daily paper opposing him, " Mr, Stranahan is 
the Baron Ilanssman of Brooklyn," and again, spealdng of that 
renovator of the old-time city, " Baron Ilaussman is the Stranahan 
of Paris." Said Mayor Kalbfleisch, in an opposing speech, " This 
increased taxation, etc., I attribute to the Park Commission, and by 
Park Commission I mean James S. T. Stranahan, for heis the Park 
Commission." Perhaps Mr. Stranahan's influence, through the con- 
fidence felt in his judgment and integrity, is by nothing better illus- 
trated than by the fact that, for six years of his administration of 
Park afFiiirs, he has been bitterly opposed by the mayor, the head 
of the dominant political party, and while his management has 
thus been impeded by every obstacle possible to the man a,nd the 
ofHce, the Democratic party of Brooklyn have rendered him efficient 
aid, and enabled him, through their political power, to secure 
results without which the park must have proved a failure. 

The Atlantic Docks are the most extensive and most perfect 
work of their kind on the continent. They consist of a basin, 
comprising forty acres of water surface, surrounded by warehouses, 
of a mile in extent, the finest of this or any country. The Atlantic 
Basin besides having a large general business is the largest grain 
depot in the world, sometimes having a storage of twelve millions 
of bushels. The construction and success of these docks is due to 
Mr. Stranahan's efforts, he being not only president of the company 
but principal stockholder and manager of its affairs. The magni- 
tude of this enterprise will be understood from the facts, that it 
was necessary, for the admission of ships, to remove by dredging 
from the entire surface of the basin, earth to the depth of fifteen 
feet; and, after the docks were located, in order to connect them 
with the then shore line, the projectors were obliged to create two 
hundred acres of land by reclaiming it from the ocean. This now 
terms a portion of the Sixth and Twelfth wards of Brooklyn, is 

498 



J. S. T. STRANAHAN. 7 

nearly covered with brick buildings, many of tliem large manufac 
tories, and contains a busy population of not less than ten thousand 
souls. 

Mr. Stranahan has in daily life a genial appreciation of others, 
a sympathetic manner, and a keen sense of humor. He has a wit 
based in liis clear picturing of thought, which enables him easily to 
t^hift some feature of it and turn the whole into comedy, or, when 
not humorous, to make his conversation striking and picturesque. 
It has been said of him by a previous waiter : " Looking at his 
face you see that he is a man having a clear far-reaching intellect, 
and, viewing his work, you become aware that he has not less re- 
sources of energy. A wise legislator, a promoter of great public 
works, a comprehensive man of business, a philanthropist and a 
Christian, he has in each of these stations done an able part, which 
will adorn coming history as well as the record of his own times." 

499 




■®°S ^by R O'Bri-en 





HENRY FARI^AM. 

'ENRY FARNAM, Esq., was bora Nov. 9, 1803, in 
Scipio, Cajniga County, New York. His father, Jeffrey 
Amherst Farnain, was born in Killingly, Conn., and his 
motlier, Mercy Tracy, in Norwich of the same State. The parents 
of his father and mother emigrated to Orange County, N. Y., when 
the latter were chikh-en. The parents of his father died in Orange 
County, while those of his mother removed to Cayuga County, 
where they died. Ilis father went to Scipio, when about twenty- 
one years old, immediately after his marriage, and settled upon an 
uncleared farm. He had eleven children, of whom Henry was the 
sixth. He died in Nov., 1S43. The mother still survives, with 
her powers unimpaired, at the age of 95, almost as fresh and active 
as in her youth, the object of the pride and affection of her numer- 
ous descendants, 

Mr. Earn am spent his childhood and early youth in laboring 
upon his father's farm in the summer, and attending upon the 
public schools for the few months of every year in which they were 
provided. Though strong for labor, and attaining a manly growth 
at an unusually early period, he was especially interested in books 
and study, and easily mastered the branches of learning which 
were pursued at the common schools. The few books of history 
and literature, which were to be found in the log-houses and the 
little library of the neighborhood, were read and re-read with the 
greatest avidity, and the contents of some of them could be repeat- 
ed by heart. He delighted especially in the mathematics, and 
whenever he found that any person within his reach knew more 
than himself, he resorted to him to be taught at the cost of any 
inconvenience or self-denial. In this way he had learned the ele- 

501 



3 HENRY FARNAM. 

ments of Trigonometry and Surveying before he was 1 6 ; and the 
elements of Algebra without a text book. He was not a little indebted 
for stimulus and direction to Mr. Davis Ilurd, then a town surveyor, 
of whose family he was a member for many months when at the age 
of 14, and with whom he was afterwards very intimately associated. 
Ilis zeal for knowledge and his special aptitude for the mathe- 
matics brought him not long after into friendly relations with the 
well-known and greatly esteemed David Thomas, then the county 
surveyor, whom he never ceased to honor, as the trusted friend of 
his youth, and as satisfactorily exemplifying his ideal of a plain, up- 
right and Christian manhood. Mr. Thomas belonged to the So- 
ciety of Friends, and, with many of his neighbors of the same faith, 
exerted no inconsiderable influence in quickening the intellect and 
in forming the elevated practical aims of his youthful favorite. 

In 1319, the lines for the Erie canal west of Rochester had been 
imperfectly surveyed. In 1820, they were run more carefully by 
Mr. Thomas, and in 1821, were finally established by him. In 
the spring of that year, Mr. Farnam went into the field under 
Mr. Thomas, first as "• rod-man," there being no other place vacant. 
After three months he became assistant Engineer, with and under 
his friend Mr. Davis Hurd, and served till the winter set in, when 
he taught school. In the folio v/ing spring, 1822, he resumed his 
post in the field. In 1823, he superintended the location and con- 
struction of a canal connecting the Tonavvanda and Oak-Orchard 
Creeks. lie continued his services till the Erie canal was finished 
in the fall of 1824, and taught school again in the winter. 

In the spring of 1825, arrangements were made by the Farming- 
tc n Canal Company for the construction of a canal from New 
Haven, Conn., to Northampton, Mass., and Mr. Farnam was per- 
suaded to serve under his old friend and principal, Mr. Ilurd, in 
the capacity of assistant Engineer. He retained this situation till 
1827, when Mr. Ilurd resigned, and Mr. Farnam took his place as 
Engineer and Superintendent, and subsequently finished the canal 
from the State line to Northampton. His connection with thiseu- 

502 



HENRY FARNAM. 3 

terprise brought liim into the most intimate relations of friendship 
and coniidence with the distinguished Pi'esident of the Company, 
Hon. James Hillhouse, whose Spartan simplicity, sturdy honesty, 
sanguine enterprise and untiring industry, combined with childlike 
ingenuousness and warm affections, won his admiration and confi- 
dence. Though himself young, he soon became to Mr. Hillhouse 
the strong staff .on which he leaned and trusted in many dark and 
trying hours. Mr. Ilillhonse died in 1S32, and in 1836, a new 
company was organized, called the IS^ew Haven and Northampton 
Company, which eventually held the ownership of the canal. Of the 
stock of this company, Mr. Joseph E. Sheffield, (who had settled 
in New Haven in 183(5 with a considerable fortune acquired by skil- 
ful management at Mobile), became, in 1840, first, a very large pro- 
prietor, and afterward, almost the sole owner. The canal was 
maintained under Mr. Farnam's management and direction, and he 
was brought into the most intimate relations with Mr. C'hefiield, 
which led to mutual esteem, and to lasting relations of cordial and 
faithful friendship. They were well fitted to act together, in the 
bold and sagacious plans by which they acquired wealth, as they 
afterward harmonized so completely in the noble liberality by 
which they bestowed so much of what they acquired. 

Mr. Farnam was married Dec. 1, 1839, to Miss Ann S. "Whitman 
of Farmington, Conn., and immediately established his residence 
at New Haven, where he remained till he removed to Chicago. 
They have had five children, four sons and one daughter, all of 
whom are living. 

In 1848, in view of the changed conditions of trafiic, occasioned 
by the general introduction of Railways, it was decided to substi- 
tute a Kailway for the Farmington Canal, and in 1848 " the Canal 
Railway" was completed to Plainville, Conn. It was subse- 
quently extended to Williamsburg, Mass., and to New Hartford, 
Conn. In 1850, this Railway was leased to the New York and New 
Haven Railway Company, and Mr. Farnam resigned the oflice which 
he had held from the first, as Engineer and Superintendent. 

503 



4 HENRY FARNAM. 

In the autumn of tlio same year, 1850, lie was invited to Chicago, 
Illinois, by William B. Ogden, Esq., then President of the Galena 
and Chicago Union Railway, that after examining the resources 
of the country along its route, he might be induced to bring his 
engineering skill as well as his influence with eastern capitalists 
to the service and advancement of the Hailway interest in the great 
]SrorthwGst. This interest was at that time in its infancy, and was 
laboring under very serious embarrassments. The only Railway be- 
yond Chicago, operated with locomotive pov/er, wai the " Galena and 
Chicago Union," then finished as far as Elgin, 42 miles in all. The 
Michigan Central Railway had been finished from Detroit to jSTew 
Buffalo, wliere it terminated ; sending its passengers and freight to 
Chicago, by Lake Michigan — a route that was uncertain and treach- 
erous. The Michigan Southern Railway, starting from Lake Erie 
at Toledo, Ohio, and Monroe, Michigan, by two branches, which 
united at Adrian, was imperfectly finished to Ilillsdale, Mich. Chi- 
cago had some 28,000 inhabitants. Its favorable position had long 
been recognized, and the splendid resources of its vast prairies in 
every direction v/ere begining to be appreciated by all the residents 
of the west, and by occasional visitors from the east. What was 
imperatively needed Avas perfected railway connections with Lake 
Erie and the East, which would facilitate the ready access of emi- 
grants, and the extension of radiating lines of railways in every di- 
rection westward, to distribute the incoming emigrants over these 
immense tracts of fertile soil, and bring eastward the products 
which their labor v/as certain to create. What stood in the way, 
was ignorance of these resources, or a want of confidence in the 
possibility of speedily furnishing these lacilities, or a reluctance on 
the part of Eastern capitalists to entrust the means which might be 
required, to individuals and companies of whose competence they 
had no experience, and in whose integrity they had less confidence. 
To meet these conditions, Mr. Farnam and Mr. Sheffield brought 
every requisite. They were known at the East as possessing skill 
and enterprise, pecuniary ability and integrity, and they had 

504 



HENRY FARNAM. 5 

proved tlieir capacity for prompt and independent action in railway 
construction, by an experiment wliich had made tliem favorably 
known in the best circles in Wall Street. 

Mr. Farnam was favorably impressed by his first visit, and still 
later in the autumn of 1850, at the pressing instance of citizens of 
Eock Island, 111., and Davenport, Iowa, he and Mr. Sheffield, 
were induced to examine the route from Chicago to Rock Island, 
with a view to their undertaking the construction of a railway, 
which should connect Chicago with the Mississippi; following in 
part the course of the Illinois Canal and River. They were so favor- 
ably impressed as to agree to construct the whole, and to furnish 
the capital, provided a favorable charter could be obtained. While 
this was pending, Mr. Farnam was solicited by John B. Jervis, 
the chief engineer of the Michigan Southern Railway, to superin- 
tend t]ie running of the portion of the road so far as it was 
finished. To this he replied, that he should prei'er to contract for 
its completion, within a year, and would pledge himself to do this, 
and to furnish the capital on certain conditions. The proposal 
was listened to with some incredulity, but was soon accepted, and 
the pledge was redeemed. In Feb., 1852, a connection by rail- 
way had been partially effected between Chicago and Lake Erie, 
the Michigan Central Railway had been excited to avail itself of 
the two dormant charters of two projected railways, and in May, 
1852, before the year was finished, trains upon both these Rail- 
vs^ays entered Chicago. For the prosperity of this city, this event 
was a new starting point. Real estate at once rose greatly in 
value, and the city began rapidly to increase in business and in 
population. In June, 1852, a few gentlemen from Kew York were 
invited to avail themselves of the newly established railway con- 
nections, for a visit to Chicago, and were startled by the obser- 
vation from Mr. Farnam, that in two years he ho])ed to take them 
by rail to the Mississippi. This promise was more than redeemed. 
In Feb., 1854, the Cliicago and Rock Island Railway was complet- 
ed, and in Juno, of the same year, a party of 1000 invited guests 

505 



HENRY FAIINAM. 

were taken by Messrs. Farnam and Sheffield, not onl}- to the 
Mississippi, bnt some 400 miles up the Mississippi, to St. Paul, 
Minn. This excursion attracted the attention of the whole country 
at the time, and has never been equalled in the liberal scale on 
which it was projected, or the satisfactory completeness with which 
it was achieved. Ko sooner had this railway been completed, 
than Mr, Farnam gave his energy and attention to the construction 
of a Railway bridge across the Mississippi. In 1855, the bridge 
at Rock Island v/as completed, and the "father of waters" was 
made aware of the presence and triumph of its rival ; the un- 
broken chaiu of Railways which has since been carried across the 
Missouri, and over the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific. 

In 1853, the Mississippi and Missouri Railway Co. was organ- 
ized, and in 1S54, Mr. Farnam and new associates contracted for 
the construction of a Railway across the State of Iowa, from Daven- 
port to Council Bluffj, It wa3 completed as far as Iowa City, in 
1856, as also a branch to Washington, via Muscatine. Mr. Far- 
nam was elected President of the Rock Island Co. in 1854, and 
held the office till 1863, when he resigned all active connection 
Vt'ith railway construction and management. His resignation 
was accepted with the most flattering and cordial testimonials on 
the part of the Directors. Previous to this, in 1860, he had re- 
leased to his associates in the contract with the Mississippi and Mis- 
souri Co., all the responsibilities and expected profits of the un- 
dertaking. Early in 1862, the Union Pacific Railway Company 
was organized. Mr. Farnam took part in the organization, and 
was invited to take a prominent share in its management. For 
reasons most honorable to himself, he declined these proffiirs, and 
adhered to the resolution which he had been slowly forming, to 
withdraw from active business of every kind, and to seek rest and 
refreshment, by a residence in Europe with his family. In August, 
1863, he sailed for Europe. He returned to witness the triumph- 
ant close of that struggle for natloiial existence and unity, in whicli 
he had taken the liveliest and the most passionate interest, 

506 



HENRY FARNAM. 



and, after crossing and recrossing the ocean twice afterward, lie 
fixed liis residence in Kew Haven, in 1868, where he finds " troops 
of friends," both old and new. 

Mr. Farnam has been distingnished from the first, by a wise, 
bnt open handed liberality. When his means were limited, he was 
a generous giver to private and public objects. In proportion to 
theii- increase, he has multiplied and enlarged his benefactions. 
To public objects, without number, as school houses and churches, 
literary and religious institutions of every grade, he has been a 
willin"- and a liberal benefactor. In 1SG3, he gave $30,000 to 
Yale College, to be expended for the erection of an improved dor- 
mitory, the first of the kind in this country, that was both projected 
and provided for. To this sum, he added $30,000 more, and 
in 1870, the building, which bears his name, was completed and oc- 
cupied. Scores and hundreds of his acquaintances and friends, from 
the lowliest to the better known, can testify to his thonghtlul and 
warm-hearted generosity. A very large number of persons, who 
have been in his employment, have been put in the way of advance- 
ment to the highest po.-ts in railway construction and manage- 
ment, and not a few have been directly and indirectly, helx)ed by 
him to afiluenco. Not a few could testify to his kind interposi- 
tion in the hour of pecuniary embarrassment and threatened ca- 
lamity. His familiarity with the ways of stock-manipulators, finan- 
ciers and contractors, has contributed to intensify his abhorrence of 
all dishonest and dishonorable devices, and to increase the sensitive- 
ness of his own personal integrity. Were all " Men of Progress" 
like him, the politics, and the finances of the country would be 
free from the reproaches with which both are so heavily burdened. 
The example which he has given of gentle kindness, of self-sacrific- 
ing sympathy, of stern integrity, and of warm-hearted interest in 
all that promotes man's welfare for the present life and the future, 
is valued most highly by those of his friends who have known him 
the longest, and in circumstances that try men severely. The writer 
of this sketch, has had ample opportunities to know him well for 

507 



8 HENRY FARNAM. 

many years, and if he writes with the warmth of a personal friend, 
lie also writes from that full and certain knowledge, which only a 
long and intimate friendship can render possible. 

Tale College, Nov., IBIO. P 

508 




EEASTUS OOEI^rRG. 

^ YEE, since the earliest days of civilization, the men 



jifS through whose instrumentality the commodities of 
^% difierent countries were interchanged, the merchant;* 
as contra-distinguished from Traders and shopkeepers, have con- 
stituted an important and influential class in all well ordered 
communities. In Venice, when a great commercial power, they 
were the aristocracy of the state. The term, " merchant Princes," 
now so flippantly used by persons ignorant of its real significance, 
had its origin in Yenice, and it described precisely the rank and 
social position of those to whom it was applied. Coming down 
to a later period, the great merchants of London and Glasgow 
have held a position second only to those of noble lineage and an- 
cestral estates. The merchants of Holland, among the most 
intelligent, successful and opulent that the world has ever seen, 
although not recognized on terms of social equality by the aristoc- 
racy of the Hague, the proudest, most polished and elegant people 
in Europe, have a powerful influence in the affairs of that comfort- 
able little kingdom, and compose a society as accomplished, well 
educated, and delightful as can be found on the Continent. The 
pui-suits of the merchant have a liberalizing tendency and promote 
an advanced civilization. His intercourse and correspondence 
extend to every quarter of the globe and bring him into 
communion with the best minds of his time. He takes cognizance 
of topics that address themselves to the consideration of states- 
men, and aids in the settlement of questions that have perplexed 
the most enlightened governments. Some of the wisest legislators 
that have sat in the British Parliament and in our own Congress 
were devoted in their earlier days to commerce ; and England 

509 



2 ERASTUS CORNING. 

OTTGG lier dominion and power in tlie east in large measm-c 
to the sagacity, wisdom, and firmness of those whom the India 
merchants sent to prosecute their enterprises of conquest and 
business on the Ganges and the plains of Hindostan. Many of 
the most brilliant of the civilians and commanders who administered 
the affairs and governed the vast possessions of the East India 
Company, received a mercantile education and began their career 
in the counting-room. 

But why multiply instances to prove, what is evident to every 
intelligent observer, that the great interests of the world have 
been largely indebted to the merchant, and that his faculties, 
sharpened and elevated by an extended commercial intercourse, 
have been effective in developing material resources, promoting 
the general good and advancing a high civilization. 

Erastus Corning has been a merchant, in the widest and best 
sense of that word. But unlike the merchant princes to whom 
we have alluded, his theatre of action has been the land instead of 
the ocean. He has had little to do with maritime comm^erce; 
much, very much, with developing the resources of his own 
country, particularly of the State of New York and the great 
Northwest. He lived in Albany before an iron rail was laid west 
of the Hudson liiver. He has been familiar with every project of 
public importance relating to the commerce between the seaboard 
and the West. With respect to the trunk lines of railway running 
through Central New York, and thence through Canada, Michigan, 
Illinois, &c., to the Missouri River, Mr. Coming's influence, his 
efforts and his money have nerved the exertions of the most 
advanced of the parties who have explored or surveyed these 
routes. His money is to-day contributing to railroad enterprise? 
west of the Missouri, and the various branch lines extending north 
and south on the eastern and western sides of that river. 

He began life without extraordinary advantages, and his pros- 
perous career and vast wealth have been achieved by his own 
unaided exertions. His chief inheritance was a vigorous con- 

510 



EllASTUS COIINING. 3 

ptitntion, an indomitable will, line moral sense, equable temper, 
patient, industrious disposition, and a heaxt full of benevolence 
and kindly feeling. lie has been a strict temperance man, 
while he has never been intolerant in regard to moderate indul- 
gence in others. With these attributes it is not surprising that, 
having lived more than three score years and ten, he should 
be enjoying excellent health in a green old age, with his mental 
powers in unimpaired activity, supervising his diversified inter- 
ests, and investing the surplus accumulations of his immense 
estate. He has been a resident of Albany for more than half a 
century, where he has always had the respect and esteem of the 
people, as is evidenced by the fact that he has been invited to 
accept every position of trust and responsibility which they had to 
bestow. He lives there unostentatiously, in quiet elegance, 
surrounded l)y his relations and friends, dispensing a liberal 
hospitality, and responding to every call of charity and 
philanthropy. 

Erastus Corning was born in Norwich, Connecticut, on the 14th 
of December, 179-4. lie is of English extraction, his ancestors 
having emigrated to this country in the early part of the last 
century. His father, Bliss Corning, served through the latter part 
of the Kevolution, and received a pension up to the time of his 
death. Ilis maternal grandfather, with two of his mother's 
brothers also fought in several campaigns during the same great 
struggle. His mother's maiden name was Smith, and the family 
resided at Preston, on the opposite side of the river from I^orwich, 
until her marriage with his father, Vvdien they all came to ISTorwich. 

Bliss Corning removed with his family to Chatham, Columbia 
County, New York, in 1807. Erastus Corning was then a lad of 
thirteen.' He had received no other educational facilities than 
such as w^ere afforded by the common schools of the pountry. 
His last teacher in the District school at [Norwich, was Pelatiah 
Perit, a partner in the house of Goodhue & Co., New York, and at 
the time of his death, which occurred a few years since, President 

511 



4 EEASTUS COllNING. 

of the Chamber of Commerce. When his father removed to 
Chatham, Erastus went to Troj as a clerk in the hardware store of 
Hart & Smith, his uncle Benjamin Smith being one of the 
partners. lie remained with Hart & Smith until the war broke 
out in 1812. Hart & Smith then dissolved and divided the goods 
of the firm. Youn"; Cornini' went back to Mr. Hart and remained 
with liim until the first of March, 1814. On the 12th of that 
month he came to Albany and entered the iron and hardware 
store of John Spencer & Co., where he remained as clerk for two 
years, when he became a partner in the firm. Mr. Spencer died 
in 1824, and Mr. Corning continued the business for a time on 
his own account. 

In all these years, from the time he left school at Xorwich in 
1807, Erastus Corning employed his spare time in reading, 
improving his mind, and gaining such knowledge as he might 
make available in the great enterprises which he subsequently 
prosecuted. He has always been reticent and self contained to an 
luicommon degree, v/ithout a particle of egotism, and the writer 
has found it a work of great difficulty to gather the information 
touching his habits and mode of life requisite even for the brief 
and imperfect memoir, which is all he has proposed to prepare. 
Mr. Corning is not an unsocial man, nor has he any affectation of 
concealment or reserve. On the contrary, he is eminently fitted for 
the enjoyments of domestic life, with a keen sense of humor and a 
quiet relish for the ludicrous, which exhibits itself in terse and 
epigrammatic methods of expression oftentimes exceedingly 
telling and impressive. He is modest and retiring in manner, 
with a feminine sensibility and delicacy of feeling. Ostentation 
and display are repugnant to him. In deliberative assemblies he 
speaks rarely, but his words arc well chosen, and his ideas and 
suggestions, always replete with wisdom and good sense, are 
conveyed with distinctness and perspicuity. 

Mr. Corning was interested in the iron and hardware business, 
at Albany, for half a century, having during that period several 

512 



ERASTUS COKNING. 5 

partners. Among tbcm were John T. Norton, wlio remained in 
the fiiTu four years ; James Horner, Gilbert C. Davidson, John F. 
"Winslovv% and Erastns Corning, Jr., who is still in the business. 
Corning & Norton purchased the rolling mill at Troy, known as 
the Albany iron worI;s at Troy, which tu'o still owned by Mr. 
Corning and his son. The transactions of the firm of Erastus 
Corning & Co. were the most extensive of any iron house in the 
country. The details cf the business were performed by his 
partners and clerlr, Mr, Corning exercising only a supervising 
control, being engaged in many important enterprises in different 
parts of the country. In the early days of railroads he embarked 
largely in their construction and management, and at the present 
time he is a stockholder and Director in several of the loading 
lines of the country. lie was one of the projectors of the Mohawk 
and Iludson road, which was completed in 1833. He was one of 
the Commitisioners fk>r organizing the Utica and Schenectady Road, 
which was finished in 183G, and was President of the Company 
from the outset until the consolidation in 1854. 

Tbo course of Mr. Corning in procuring the consolidation of 
the roads between Albany and Buffalo, has been made the subject 
of much criticism and misrepresentation. The cry of monopoly, 
always a popular one with demagogues, was raised against him, 
and there was a great deal of senseless clamor on the subject. Con- 
solidation was a matter of necessity. When the Erie Railroad 
was completed to Lake Erie, and the Pennsylvania Central had 
finished its track, it was apparent that the several companies Vv'hich 
now compose the 'Ne\Y York Central could not successfully compete 
with those great lines unless they were consolidated and operated 
by one controlling mind. Here were seven distinct corporations, 
each one managed independently of all the others, while the rival 
roads were controlled by a single Board of Directors. A simple 
statement of the circumstances is sufficient to vindicate the course 
of Mr. Corning ; the result, furnishing an unanswerable reply to 
the foolish accusations of the opponents of consolidation. Mr. 
33 51-3 



6 ERASTUS CORNING. 

Corning remained President of the Central until 1865, when he 
resigned the office. 

Some fifteen years ago, a project was conceived of constructing a 
canal around the fall of the River St. Mary, to connect the waters 
of Lake Superior with the great chain of Lakes terminating with 
Ontario. It was called the Ste. Marie Ship Canal. The State of 
Michigan obtained a concession of 750,000 acres of the public lands 
in aid of the enterprise. Commissioners were appointed, of which 
Gen. Cass was one, who advertised for proposals for the con- 
struction of the canal. A company was organized, of which Mr. 
Corning was President, to whom the contract was awarded. Mr. 
J. W. Brooks, theii superintendent of the Michigan Central Pail- 
road, and one of the ablest and most enlightened railroad men 
in the country, was associated with Mr. Corning in the under- 
taking. The work was prosecuted with a degree of intelligence 
and energy that insured its completion at an early day. It 
was an important auxiliary to the commerce of the lakes, and 
the rapid development of the large resources of the Lake Superior 
country is to be chiefly ascribed to the facilities afforded by this 
Canal. 

The early completion of the Michigan Central Railroad, one of 
the most important links in the great line of railways that connect 
the Atlantic with the Pacific, was mainly achieved by means of 
the ample resources and farsighted penetration of Mr. Corning. 
The State of Michigan had undertaken the work, but it was 
languishing for want of means. The track had been completed as 
far as Kalamazoo ; when the enterprise was brought to a stand. 
Mr. Corning, in connexion with Mr. D. J). Williamson, of the 
Farmer's Trust and Loan Company, and Mr. J. W. Brooks, took a 
transfer of the road, which they completed through to Lake 
Michigan without any unnecessary delay. Mr. Corning has been 
a large stockholder, and one of the Directors of the Company up 
to the present time. lie was one of the originators of the 
Chicago, Bmdington and Quincy Railroad, of which he has always 

514 



ERASTUS CORNING. 7 

been a Director. He lias been connected witli many otlier 
railroad enterprises in the west, but it is nnnecessary to go into 
further details on this subject. 

I^'or a period of more than forty years, offices of distinction and 
responsibility, municipal, state and national, were constantly 
oiFered for the acceptance of Mr. Corning. In many instances he 
declined these evidence of confidences and respect, while others 
which he had received with reluctance, he was constrained to 
resign by stress of private affairs. He was elected an Alderman 
of the city of Albany, in 1828, and served four consecutive terms. 
He was then chosen Mayor, by the Common Council, and 
subsequently was re-elected for four successive years. The last 
time, the whigs having obtained control of the Council, he resigned 
the ofiice. He was elected a member of the State Senate, in 1841, 
and was in that body when the Legislature adopted a resolution 
for a convention to form a new constitution. He opposed the 
measure, foreseeing then, what is patent to everybody now, that 
the new constitution which was to supersede the organic law of 
1821, would be an innovation rather than an improvement. In 
1833, Mr, Corning was elected one of the Regents of the 
University, and at the present time is Yice-Chancellor of the 
Board of Regents. 

He was chosen a representative in the 35th Congress, and also 
in the 37th and 38th. During the first term he was a mem- 
ber of the Committee on naval afiairs, in which his practical 
common sense and extraordinary business capacity gave him an 
influential position. He was one of the delegates from the State of 
Kew York to the Peace Convention, which met in Washington in 
February, 1861. This body contained many of the ablest, most 
patriotic and influential men of the country. They met in the 
hope of devising some measures to arrest the civil war which was 
then seen to be impending. Mr. Corning was in favor of such 
concessions as could honorably be made, and acted with Mr, 
Crittenden, and Mr. Guthrie, and other gentlemen of like pacific 

515 



8 ERASTUS CORNING. 

viovTS ; but the extreme men controlled the Convention, and 
nothing was accomplished. 

On again entering Congress, he was placed on the Committee 
of Ways and Means. The terrible conflict to preserve the Union 
was then in progress, and the power and resources of the 
government were tasked to the utmost. The great problem in 
this exigency was to provide a circulating medium equal to the 
financial necessities of the country. The ])recious metals were 
rapidly rising in the market, and paper money was correspondingly 
depressed. The peril of the government was supreme and the 
Treasury Department in despair. In this juncture the res- 
ponsibility devolved upon the financial committees of Congress was 
tremendous. Mr. Coming's long experience as a banker in Albany, 
where he had been connected with several heavy moneyed 
institutions, as President and Director, imparted great weight to 
his opinions and suggestions. Although an earnest and un- 
compromising Democrat, he supported the war measures of the 
administration with intelligent zeal, and Mr. Lincoln often spoke 
of his valuable services in Congress in terms of warm and grateful 
acknowledgment, lie resigned his seat in the House at the 
opening of the second session of the 38th Congress, determined to 
witlulraw finally from public life. But the people have a method of 
compelling the services of men wliose abilities they know to be 
available, and Mr. Corning v/as constrained to accept a seat in the 
recent Convention called to frame a new Constitution of the 
State. His wisdom and forecast made him one of the most con- 
servative and valuable members of that body. Ilis counsel and 
advice are always safe and discreet. It is in the Committee-room 
and in small bodies of men that he is most effective and 
influential. For although self possessed under all circumstances, 
with great tenacity of purpose and nerves of iron, he never 
obtrudes his opinions, and is sparing of recommendations. He 
investigates every subject cautiously and thoroughly, and when he 
decides, his conclusion is final. 

516 




- '^ .">-<?, -5?^^ 




JOHN^ W^TTS DE PEYSTER. 

BY FREDERICK WIIITTAKER. 

^OTOIIN WATTS DE PEYSTER, Brevet Maior-General 

v*^^ New York State National Guard, the subject of the 

y^m tbllowing sketch, is a lineal descendant of two of the most 

prominent families in the colony of New York prior to the Kevo- 

hition. 

The founder of the race in America was Johannes de Pejster, 
himself descended from an old Huguenot family, driven out of 
France about the time of the massacre of Saint Bartholomew, and 
long settled in Holland. Johannes was Schepen, Burgomaster, 
member of the " Commission for Defence," and Deputy-Mayor of 
Nieuw Amsterdam, and was offered the mayoralty. lie declined 
this honor, because he could speak no language but Dutch. 

His son, Abraham, was the tirst treasurer of the province of New 
York, colonel commanding the whole militia of his district, mem- 
ber of the King's Council ; and, as president of the Council, acting 
governor in the crisis of 1701. 

Ills grandson Abraham, and his great-grandson Frederic, were 
also successively treasurers of the colony, or province. II is great- 
great-grandsons, Abraham, Frederic, and Jame^, were officers in 
the royal service, in which the two lirst were wounded, and the 
third lost his life. 

In the next generation, the only son old enougli to bear arms 
was James F. de Peyster, a captain in the war of 1812-15. An- 
other younger son, Frederic de Peyster, the generaFs father, was 
one of the earliest and most influential members of the New York 
Historical Society, which owes much to his energy, influence, and 
ability. Of this he was recently the President, and as such do- 

517 



2 JOHNWATTSDKPEYSTER.' 

livered several addresses of the greatest merit and most enduring 
interest. 

On the maternal side, the Watt, or Watts family, entered the 
colony about the time of the English conquest, and were distin- 
guished as merchants and public men in colonial affairs. John 
Watts (ol)iit, 1836), the maternal grandfather of the gentleman 
under consideration, in early life member of Congress, and Speaker 
of the Assembly, was the founder of the Leake and Watts Orphan 
House, situated to the northwest of the Central Park, and imme- 
diately adjoining Morning Side Park. 

His brother, Stephen Watts, was a major commanding a battal- 
ion at the age of twenty-two ; and, as second in conmiand, in one 
of the bloodiest and most decisive battles of the century, lost his 
leg on the field. 

His son, George Watts, was aid to General Scott, and saved 
that General's life in Canada, prior to the battle of Chippewa. 

So much for his ancestors. Space will not permit further details. 
The three suns of the subject of our biography, Watts, Frederic, 
and Johnston L. de Peyster, were respectively brevetted colonel, 
major, and lieutenant-colonel of volunteers by the United States, 
and colonels by the State of New York; the first, for "gallant 
conduct at the battle of Chancellorsville ;*'* the second, for " faith- 
ful and meritorious services ; " the third, for "gallant and meritorious 
service," in having raised the Ji/'st real American flag over the 
capitol of Richmond, Virginia, April 3, 1S65. For this deed, 
Johnston L. de Peyster received a vote of thanks from this city, 
for "giving to New York this Instoric Jtonory 

General de Peyster, Brevet Major-General New York State 
National Guard, is essentially a self-made man, in the line of dis- 
tinction to which he has devoted his time, means, and talents, for 

■ *Colouel J. Watts de Peyster, junior, was aide-de-camp at Alexandria, before York- 
town, at Williamsburg, and Seven Pines, or Fair Oaks, to his cousin, the distinguished 
ijiajor-generai Philip Kearny, who, with his (Col. J. W. de P., jr's.) father, were the solo 
itiale descendants and heirs of the Hon. John Watts abcve referred to, and wero 
brought up together as brothers in their grandfather's house. , 

518 



JOHN WATTS DE PEYSTER. 3 

over a quarter of a century; namely, the improvement of the 

militia system of liis native State; and, through her, of hid native 
country. 

Born in affluence, and succeeding to a handsome fortune before 
his majority, Jolm Watts de Peyster was one of those men who 
could not 1)6 idle in the [)ossession of a fortune. 

Some men in his position would have sunk themselves in sloth 
and pleasure, leading an aimless and butterfly existence; M^anderers 
upon the face of Eur{)])e in the empty pursuit of enjoyment, and 
sneerers at their own free home, as " totally devoid of culture, you 
know," Others would have sunk themselves still deeper in nu)ney- 
grubbing, piling millions upon inillions, rising early and going to 
rest late — miserable slaves amid all their wealth to the sordid spirit 
of Mammon. 

Some men, in the like position, blessed with a share of brains, 
become literary dilettanti, attenders of societies, " patrons of letters,'' 
so called, feeding their vanity at the expense of poorer literary 
)nen. , 

Some few — and the person referred to among them — saved from 
the necessity of laboring for their daily bread, still feel a something 
within tiiem that spurs them on to work for others, partly, perhaps, 
for fame, but much more for the good of their fellow-men. 

In one class of individuals it takes the shape of politics, and 
produces sucli men as Pitt, Fox, and Jefferson. In others, it as- 
sumes the form uf military ardor, and blossoms out in generals such 
as Washington, Lafayette, and Oliver Cromwell ; all men of inde- 
pendent fortune. 

In the subject of this sketch it took a military direction. The 
military sjurit is one as hard to combat where it exists — as hard to 
raise where it does not — as any of the various phases of mental 
bias. Where a boy possesses it in its full sense, how or why he 
can not tell, it becomes a resistless and consumins: passion ; and one 
as far removed from the love of destruction, that has often been 
Iield to be its l)ane, as light from darkness. The born soldier is 

519 



4 JOnX WATTS DE PEYSTER. 

always tender-hearted and cliivalrons, in his highest and best inaui- 
festation. Ho can no more help being a soldier in spirit, tlian a 
poet can help being a poet. 

So it was M-ith de Pejster, Tlie instant that lie became a freo 
man, master of liis own actions, he threw himself into military 
studies with all the ardor of an enthusiast. Wars were not, when 
he sought his first commit?sion ; hut the preparaiimi for futaire wars 
was to be made. In tlie militia of a free country lies irs chief hope 
for the future. Standing armies are a nuisance and a burden, often- 
times failing a country at its utmost need, as is the case now j)atent 
in France. A reliable militia, in the true sense of the word, is a 
tower of strength. The keen prescience of de Peyster recognized 
this fact very early in his military career. He threw himself heart 
and soul into the work of making the State Militia of New York 
a truly reliable force, using his time and extensive means with the 
utmost freedom. 

In the year 1849, already a colonel, he was assigned to the com- 
mand of the twenty-second regimental district of New York State, 
and began to work in real earnest. The old militia system of the 
State, at that time, had been entirely abolished ; and the new was 
in a disorganized and chaotic state, almost inconceivable, in conse- 
quence of the repeal of all existing laws. In that year a new and 
(sweeping system was inaugurated, which undertook to remedy all 
these defects. The whole State was divided into districts, each to 
furnish a regiment in proportion to its population. 

Many old organizations, full of esprit de corps and party preju- 
dice, had been remorselessly swept away. The twenty-second 
regimental district embraced the headquarters of over a dozen so- 
called regiments, each provided with a full and flowing staff of 
o-Oicers^ but not so plentiful in the useful but humble private. 
It was situated partly in Dutchess, partly in Columbia County, and 
in the hot-bed of the anti-rent district. The task of a colonel, who 
(should enforce the attendance of men in a new regiment which they 
disliked, was adifficult one. Mutiny very nearly broke out on several 

520 



JOHN WATTS DEPEYSTER. 5 

occasions. Bat tlie firmness and rigorous discipline of the new 
commander, seconded by a staif of congenial spirits, prevailed over 
the stubborn and refractory elements around, and he received from 
the able Samuel Stevens, then adjutant-general of the State, and 
author of the new law, the high praise of being the only officer in 
the State, save one, who had done his rohole duty, and organized 
a reliable force in a district unusually opposed to the new state of 
things. 

At his own expense, in conjunction with colonel, now Brevet 
Brigadier-General, William P. Wainwriglit, he furnished, horsed, 
and manned, a section of flying artillery, to maneuvre with his 
i-egiment — the men coming from liis own place and neighborliood, 
who, by the testimony of competent officers, were as expert in their 
duties as any regular mounted battery in the United States service. 

in the year 1S51 he was rewarded by pi-omotion to the rank of 
Brigadier-General New York State Militia, for "important ser- 
vices." The commission came from the governoi' (AVashington 
Hunt), and was the first ever conferred in that way in the State of 
New York. The office had, up to that time, been elective — whence 
more than one half of the inefficienc}^ of the former militia. 

Relieved from active militia duty by the state of his health, 
wliich had become so precarious that a voyage to Europe was re- 
garded as necessary to save him from consumption, the ever-activc 
spirit of the man would not suffer him to go there without some- 
thing to do. 

At his own request, paying his own expenses, he was deputed as 
" military agent " to Europe from the State, with his credentials 
indorsed by the general government, to examine into the National 
Guard organizations, municipal military systems, and fire depart- 
ments of the continental powers, and report on the one to be 
recommended as best suited for adoption at home. 

The result of his labors, extendino; over a period of three vears 
was embodied in two reports to the adjutant-general of the Stiite. 
Almost every suggestion made in those reports has been carried 

521 



Q JOHN WATTS I)E PEYSTKR. 

into practical execution ;* and liad tlie scheme wliicli he submitted 
been acted upon, we should have had, at the conmiencement of our 
civil war, a force of well-drilled troops, available at a week's notice, 
which would have crushed it in tlie bud. 

Influences beyond the control of those wlio have a heartfelt 
interest in the reports referred to, caused his suggestions to be 
practically neglected ; while adroit politicians fllched from him all 
the credit due to his self-denying exertions in spite of continued 
ill health. 

In the year 1855, a brief gleam of sunlight illumined de Pey- 
ster's prospects of military usefulness. In that year he was ap- 
pointed State Adjutant-General. But he soon found that to succeed 
in the slough of Albany politics, he must give up all hope of 
serving the militia, and turn his official position to purposes foreign 
to the office. This suited him so ilh-, that in a few months after 
he resigned his position, preferring to retain his honor, to occupying 
a military position as the price of degrading it into a mere political 
agency. JSTevertheless, during his brief term of service, he cut the 
Gordian knots of many abuses which had shackled the organiza- 
tion of the State militia, and gave it the first impulse toward real 
efficiency. 

To use the language of his successor, Tlobert II. Pruyn, afterward 
United States ambassador to Japan: "I should as soon think of 
partitioning a hornet's nest, as of attempting many things you 
have had the boldness to execute." 

For several years after his return from Europe, he was hard at 
work in his brigade district ; embracing the whole of Dutchess 
and a great part of Columbia County — his old regiment, the twenty- 
second, being a part of it. His devotion to duty may be inferred 
from the fact, that during three years he published, at his own 
expense, a monthly journal called the " ^c'fowrw/'," for gratuitous 

^ He also suj^gested a plan for a paid Fire Department, with steam fire-engines — which 
eventually was recognized as a necessit}^ As a testimonial of liis Batisfaction, aa ex- 
quisite gold medal was presented to his representative by Gove'"nor Hunt. 

522 



JOHN WATTS DE PEYSTER. 7 

distribution to liis command, and to all wlio desired to improve 
themselves in sound military knowledge. The quantity of useful 
and valuable matter contained in these volumes is wonderful. A 
treatise on tlie *' Science of tlie General Staff," by General A^>n 
Ilardegg (adjutant-general to tlie King of Wurtemberg), was fully 
translated and reprinted in it, and many other equally valuable 
treatises of a briefer character. 

During these years, too, General de Peyster commenced tliat 
career in which he has since been so distinguished, tliat of a mili- 
tary writer, biographer, and critic. 

In 1856 appeared his biography of field-marshal Torstenson, 
the distinguished successor of Gustavus Adolphus, whose genius 
crowned with final success the efforts of Sweden in the Thirty Years' 
War, and insured the triunq^h of the reformed religion. 

This biography gained him a most flattering notice abroad ; and 
amongst others, three handsome medals from II. R. M. Oscar, King 
of Sweden, in recognition of the ability and research displayed in 
the work. 

From this time to the outbreak of the Rebellion, General de 
Pevster was princijially occupied in military writing. lie retired 
froni active duty in the militia in 1856, his health giving way under 
a complication of painful disorders, under which most men would 
have ceased to work, and which rendered his life, for nuiny years, 
one long round of pain. Every interval of compai-ative tranquillity 
was occupied in that severest form of literary labor, historical, 
especially military composition. 

A series of volumes, papers, and pamphlets on history, biog- 
raphy, and ethnology, attracted mucli complimentary notice in 
England ; and his military contributions to different newspapers 
over the signature of " Anchor," of which many were translated 
and published in Europe, are remarkable for their soundness of 
criticism and foresight. 

During the war of the Rebellion, he was unwillingly compelled 
by forces beyond his control, in addition to a most critical state of 

523 



8 JOHN WATTS DE PEYSTER. 

liealth, to be an ol)?crver. Still what could be accomplished at 
home l)j writing;, s])eaking, and influence, was done by the invalid 
to serve his country. One of his addresses before the Historical 
Society of Vermont, in the Le<^islative Hall at Montpelier, was a 
pro}>hecy fulfilled to the letter. That these were appreciated, 
appears from the fact that, in 1866, both chambers of the State 
Legislature united in a concuri-ent resolution, the only similar one 
on record in any State, by which they bestowed on him tlie raidv of 
Brevet Major-General National Guard, State of New York, for 
" meritorious services tendered to the National Guard and to the 
United States, prior to and during the Rebellion." The recom- 
mendations wliich procured its passage, were signed by General 
Rosecrans and other distinguished officers and governors, etc. 
Generals Gi'ant and Sherman, and others of high rnidc and renown, 
have recognized the ability and labors of General de Peyster. 

General, Hon. Sir Edward Gust, one of the few remaining 
Waterloo veterans, author of the "Lives of the Warriors," and 
"Annals of the Wars," — embracing fifteen volumes — dedicated 
tlie last of his series to General de Peyster, in a very flattering 
letter, occupying twenty-seven pages, in whicli he acknowledges him- 
self largely indebted to our countryman for many "truly valuable 
hints and suggestions ; " and particularly for "preaching practical 
strategy." General Oust observes of this: "I readily acce[)t from 
you this expression. It comprises all that can be said or written 
upon skill in war." 

Moreover, this distinguished veteran adopted as types, and repro- 
duced in his works, the lives of the generals selected as the best 
exemplars by our fellow-citizen. 

His writings since that time, his criticisms on various battles of 
the war, hava been numerous and masterly. The Third Corps 
(Union) of the Army of the Potomac, recently voted the general a 
magnificent badge, by a resolution worded in the most flattering 
terms, f(^r his noble defence of that body, and vindication of their 
coi-ps-commander, in his account of Gettysburg. The battle of 

624 



JOHN WATTS DE PETSTER. 9 

Cliancellursville has been presented by his pen in a manner per- 
fectly exhaustive, leaving nothing to desire in the way of complete- 
ness and well-considered criticism. 

But one of the most remarkable facts in de Peyster's writings 
is his military prescience. In the year 18GG he foreshadowed, in a 
series of articles, the victory of Prussia over Austria, and in a 
long communication to the Army and Navy Journal of May 4, 
1867 (relative to the threatened war at that time between Fi'ance 
and Prussia respecting Luxembourg), the result of the pending 
hostilities. This article, were it not found in the files of the Journal 
forlSGT, might be taken as a simple nan-ativeof what has happened 
in 1870. It was a prophecy, and the prophecy is accomplished, 
lie also indicated in a series of articles, not only the extraoi'dinary 
oj)ening movements and successes of the Prussians, their subse- 
quent career and investment of Paris, but even predicted as inevi- 
table the unparalleled surrender of Sedan. 

Whether we consider General de Peyster as a man spending 
time, and talents, and fortune, for a valuable end — his country's 
preparation for defence; or in the light of a careful, judicious his- 
torian, with the single aim of truth before his eyes, his conduct is 
■worthy of emulation. If the same self-denying spirit were more 
eomnmn, our political management would not have become what it 
!\ow is. If men of fortune like him would devote themselves as 
assiduously to what they are fit to do, to help their country as he 
has done, in his special province, the country would be Ijetter 
governed, and the people less burdened and robbed without leturn. 

Absorbed in selfish and sordid pursuits, as too niany rich men 
are, it is a relief to come across one whose idea of duty comports 
better with the patriotic era of the past, than our own days of sloth 
and corruption. 

525 



OALYIJ^ T. HULBUED, 

OF BRASUER FALLS, NEW YORK, 
V'^I^^AELY in this ccnturv the parents of Mr. Ilulburd emi- 

WsEa "^ 

Vl'C-c, grated Irom Ycrniont to St. Lawrence County, JSTew York. 

Hh}& . . . 

•'K-'^ 7 i^Q Yvas born in the year 1809, in a log-house, in the town- 
ship of Stoclihohn. His first school liours were in a log stockade, 
erected as a refuge against a surprise by hostile Indians. Mr. Hul- 
burd often relates his remembrance of being punished therein by 
the schoolmistress, by having both his hands tied up to the great 
wooden latch of the door, because, though only two years old, he did 
not sit still. In time the picketed stockade gave place to the log 
school-house proper. Devouring all the reading matter there and 
thereabouts attainable, his parents conceived the idea of giving the 
boy a college education, a great step in those days. In a minister's 
study, and in the county academy, he litted for college. At the 
age of sixteen he entered Middlebury College, He graduated in 
the year 1829 with the reputation of being a great reader, a grace- 
ful writer, a ready debater, and one of the hest helles-Iettre^^ S'Cholarii 
of his class, A Jackson boy in politics, more than once in his Jun- 
ior and Senior years he was intrusted with the editorial columns of 
the National Standard^ then the Democratic organ of that section 
of the State of Yerm.ont. 

In the year 1830 he commenced the study of the law in the office 
of the venerable Abraham Yan Yechten, of Albany. The year fol- 
lowing was spent at New Haven, in the law school connected with 
Yale College. At that time the presiding divinity of that school 
was the accomplished ex-Senator and ex-Chief Justice Daggett, of 
Connecticut. Mr. Hulburd's last year of reading was in the office 
of Judge Isaac McConnikc, of Troy. 

527 



2 CALVIN T. nULBURD. 

lu 1833, in tlie citj of 'New York, after passing the usual exami- 
nation, he was duly licensed to practice as attorney at law and 
solicitor in chancery in the courts of the State of New York. 
Those who knew Mr. Hulburd anticipated for him a professional 
career of usefulness and eminence. But after repeated trials he 
found his naturiilly strong constitution had been overmuch or too 
indiscriminately drawn upon by unremitting study and ap})lication. 
The confinement and drudgery of a practicing lawyers office his 
health could not endure, and so, at the thresiiold of his professional 
life, he was constrained to turn away and engage in out-door and 
more active labors. 

In 1839 with a brother he purchased, in the township of Brasher, 
in his native county, a very considerable tract of unimproved land, 
situate on the banks of tlie St. Regis Iliver. Here the}- built mills 
and manufactories, and soon saw springing into embryo existence 
the village of Brasher Falls. There Mr. Hulburd erected for him- 
self an elegant country residence, and there he still residej. 

Though at different periods a merchant and manufacturer, a 
farmer of no small repute, a delighted breeder of blooded Ayrshires, 
yet he never, in all the bustle and jostle of an active and busy life, 
lost his love of books. His unique and charming library contains 
hundreds of volumes" on agriculture and theology, rare and choice 
writers of history, biography, poetry, general literature, etc. 
His occasional lectures before various bodies, lyeeums, agricul- 
tural fairs, etc., have evinced that his books are not mere show 
Companions. 

In the fall of 1811 he was elected on the Democratic ticket to 
the Assembly of the State. The session opened in January, 18-12. 
BetVa-e the first rnoi'ith had elapsed he had defined his position on 
the then great financial question of the day — stop expenditures until 
the credit of tlie State is at par, and then pay as work is done. 
Be-elected in the full of 1813, he was, the next session, placed at 
the liead of the Comiiiitteo on Colleges, Academies, and Common 
Schools. As such chairman he made his mark on the common- 

528 



CALVIN T. HULBURD. § 

school system of the State, in the introduction of various measures 
tending to improve and elevate the general educational interests of 
the State. ^ Particularly did he urge the propriety, other things 
being equal, of giving the preference to female teachers, support- 
ing his views in a strong and eloquent report. 

Returned to the Assembly in 184-i, as chairman of the same ira- 
por.cant committee, he was directed to visit and examine the nor- 
mal schools recently established in Massachusetts. Aftei- a cai-eful 
inspection of those seminaries, and a considerate scrutiny of their 
workings and bearings upon the common schools of that State, he 
returned, and in an exhaustive and masterly report he traced the 
origin and progress and the results of teachers' seminaries in 
Europe, in Massachusetts, and elsewhere in this country where they 
had been tried. The report concluded with a bill establishing at 
Albany a State normal school for five years, and appropriating for 
its support ten thousand dollars each year. Of course a measure so 
novel encountered a strenuous opposition, but the report, in its facts 
and logic and conclusions, could not be gainsaid. The bill became 
a law, and that one seminary ere long bore such fruits that other 
sections of tiie State began to clamor for similar institutions, and 
now other States, where elevation, thoroughness, and improvement 
are recognized goals of effort, are doing likewise. 

After several years' voluntary retirement from tlie political arena, 
Mr, Ilulburd consented to serve in the Legislature of 1862. As 
chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the Assemblj'', 
early in the session, he introduced resolutions looking to the main- 
tenance of a sound rinancial business basis. He supported the reso- 
lutions m a speech of so much force and power, that it was remarked 
as a misfortune that it could not have been uttered in the hall of 
the Federal Congress, rather than at a State capital. During the 
session, in a forcible speech, he set forth the defenseless condition of 
the harbor and the city of New York as perilous in view of the civil 
war raging south of the Potomac. His fears were ridiculed as chi- 
merical and groundless, but when on a certain memorable Sunday 
34 629 



4 CALVIN T. IIULBURD. 

afternoon the telegraph announced at Albany that tlie dread Mer- 
imac was steaming out of the river and it was supposed that New 
York would be her destination, more than one exclaimed dolefully, 
" Ilulburd was right." So, too, when at a subsequent day he pleaded 
that the northern frontier of the State might be put in a condition 
of defense if not offense, he was jeered at. But when the rebel sym- 
pathizers " over the border" made their demonstrations along " the 
line," and when the '"Fenian times" afterward came, it was felt that 
defense would have been quite desirable and available. 

In 1S62 Mr. Hulburd was elected from the strong Kepublican 
St. Lawrence district, to the Thirty-eighth Congress. His first 
speech in Congress was in exposition and vindication of President 
Lincoln's En>ancipation Proclamation. His speech at a subsequent 
period on the financial situation was listened to with attention. 
One of his most effective forensic efi'orts was in explanation and 
vindication of his report on Collector Smyth's administration of 
the JSTew York Custom-House. No speech in Congress during the 
winter of 1867-68 produced such a sensation in New York City 
and the country, as did that terrible invective. Those who read 
it now will not wonder the victim himself shed tears as he read 
it in the next morning's papers. Although subsequently several 
times on the floor as a speaker, his congressional forte seemed to be 
as an investigator of abuses, corrui)tions, and frauds. He was, on 
first taking his seat, made chairman of the Committee on Public 
Expenditures, and thereafter by common consent all allegations of 
bribery, extortion, corruption, and official malfeasance were refer- 
red for investigation to that committee. In this line of duty he 
overhauled the Boston-Custom House, and several times probed 
to the quick, and exi)Osed the rascalities and rottenness of the Col- 
lectors of the Port of New York. The several fearless, scathing 
reports he from time to time made on the men and their practices, 
with which he had thus to do, are still referred to as authorities as 
to the standing of the" officials he exposed and pronounced upon. 
Mr. Hulburd's congressional career closed March 4, 1869. In 

530 



CALYIN T. HULBURD 5 

August of the same year, it is understood with much rehictance he 
accepted the position of* Superintendent of Construction of the New 
Post Office in the city of New York. lie had served six years in 
Congress with Mr, Boutwell, two of these years with him on the 
Reconstruction Committee. Secretary Boutwell knew his firmness, 
his incorruptible honesty, and had no fears but that, whatever 
temptations might beset his superintendent in New York, he would 
'•maintain his integrity." It is to Mr. Hulburd's credit that in this 
(lay of calumny and "falling away," at Albany and in Washington, 
handling hmidreds of thousands of dollars, holding in his hands 
reputations of priceless estimation, no personal opponent, no politi- 
cal antagonist, has ever breathed a suspicion of or against his 
stainless personal integrity. 

Two or three personal items should, perhaps, be added. He was 
married in 1842 ; in 1846 he was elected, a corporate member of the 
American Board of Missions ; in 1867, while traveling in Europe, 
Hamilton College bestowed upon him the degree of LL. D. In his 
church- membership Mr. Hulburd is believed to be Presbyterian. 

The brief skeich of this honest, genial, modest, yet resolute, 
progressive self-made man, sets before the youth of America an 
example wortliy of imitation. 

631 



SEERAE^US OLKsTTO]^ HASTINGS.* 




jUCCESS is not always an evidence of genius, no more than 
failure is an assurance of incapacity, yet be who triumphs 
in life's battle despite many and serious obstacles in his 
early years — he who, in due time, attains honored prominence 
anions: his fellow-men without such accessories as wealth and in- 
fluence to render the struggle less arduous — in a word, he who, by 
dint of his own brain and muscle, rises from poverty and obscurity 
to affluence and position, surely develops rare ability, and illus- 
trates a life-story worthy of emulation. Such a man is the subject 
of this sketch, and his career is another and convincing example of 
that success which follows merit, and to which all may aspire who, 
like him, possess the will, the force of character, and the perse- 
verance essential to its accomplishment. 

The ancestry of Mr. Hastings can be traced to times quite remote, 
and he is supposed to be a descendant of the general of his name, 
who, during the Heptarchy, led the Danish forces into England. 
His grandfather emigrated from England to Rhode Island early in 
the seventeenth century, and afterward settled in New York. Rob- 
ert Collins Hastings, his father, was a well-educated and intelligent 
mechanic, a native of New York, and married Patience Brayton, 
of the large family of that name, who were amongst the first set- 
tlers of the counties of Jefferson and St. Lawrence. 

He was conspicuous in the stirring political events of his day, 
and was a warm friend and supporter of De Witt Clinton, after 
whom he named his son. 

* This sketch, originally written by Thomas P. Madden for " Representative Men of 
the Pacific," has beti 'e-written, revised, and enlarged for this work. 

533 



2 SERRANUS CLINTON HASTINGS. 

He "was in coinmaiid of a company at Sackett's Harbor at the 
close of the war of 1812, and, in a personal encounter, provoked 
by the colonel of his regiment, lie dealt that officer a sword-thrust, 
on account of which, though never prosecuted criminallter, he was 
harassed and persecuted by the colonel and his numerous and pow- 
erful friends, until lie became reduced from comfortable affluence to 
poverty. In this condition he removed to near Geneva, where he 
died, at the age of thirty-four years, destitute and despondent, leaving 
a v.'ife and live children, of whom the subject of this notice was the 
eldest. Before speaking of the son, we will mention another inci- 
dent in the eventful career of the father. Robert C. Hastings, 
during tlie war of 1812, together with two others of Watertown, 

became surety for Paymaster , who, some time after, represented 

that he 'had been. robbed of $80,000 in government funds. This 
statement not being credited, the three sureties repaired one Sunday 
morning to the residence of the suspected paymaster and invited him 
to a walk in the fields, and there thrust him tln-ee times in a water- 
pit, declaring each should be the last unless he would reveal the truth. 
The third time convinced the culprit of the terrible earnestness of 
the parties with whom he had to deal, and after being restored to 
consciousness, not without considerable difficulty, he finally ac- 
knowledged that the money was concealed on his wife's person. 
Actino- on this confession, they immediately returned to the house, 
and forcibly took possession of the secreted funds, whereupon the 
enraged wife and proud woman, belonging to one of the first families 
of the country, unwilling to survive the disgrace of herself and hus- 
band, ran to the center of Black River Bridge near at hand, leaped 
into the stream and was drowned. 

Serranus Clinton Hastings was born November 22, 1814, in Jef- 
ferson County, New York. In early youth he passed six years in 
study at Gouverneur Academy, and, from this time to manhood, no 
one but himself can appreciate the difficulties, arising from poverty, 
he had to contend with in meeting the necessities of life, and at 
the same time prosecuting his education. At the age of twenty he 

534 



SERRANUS CLINTON HASTINGS. 3 

became principal of the Norwich Academy in Chenango County, 
New York, wliere he introduced tlie liamiltonian system of instruc- 
tion in the laiiguao^es, the analytical system of mathematics, and 
improvements in other branches of education. After one year's 
successful teaching, he resigned this position, and comtncnced the 
study of law with Charles Thorpe, Esq., of Norwich, Here he con- 
tinued his gtudies but a few months, and, in 1834, emigrated to 
Lawrenceburg, Indiana, where lie completed his legal course in the 
office of Daniel S. Majors, Esq. He did not, however, enter at 
once upon his professional labors, and in 1836, during the bitter 
Presidential contest, we find him editing, in the interest of the 
Democratic party, the Indiana Signal, an influential journal, which 
gave spirited and effective support to Martin Van Buren. His 
editorial career of six months closed with the triumph of his candi- 
date; and he then parted with his second brother, who migrated to 
Texas, enlisted in a company of which he afterwards became 
captain, fought four years oti the Texan frontier and Mexican border, 
and was killed with nearly all of his command — victims of the 
treachery of his Mexican allies. 

Mr. Hastings resumed his journey westward in December, 1836, 
and, on reaching Terre Haute, Indiana, presented himself to Judge 
Porter of the Circuit Court, and ably sustained the test of a severe 
legal examination at the hands of that distinguished jurist. His 
next move was still further west until he reached the Black Hawk 
purchase (now the State of Iowa), and arrived at Burlington, in Jan- 
uar}", 1837. The following spring he took up his abode on the 
western bank of the Mississippi, wliere has since sprung up the city 
of Muscatine, Iowa, and here resolved to commence the practice of 
the profession for which he had prepared himself, having first been 
examined by Judge Irwin and admitted to the bar. At that tjnie 
this vast stretch of country was attached to the Territory of AVis- 
consin, for judicial purposes. Shortly after his admittance to the 
bar, Mr. Hastings was commissioned a Justice of the Peace by 
Governor Dodge, of Wisconsin, with jurisdiction extending over the 

535 



4 SERRANUS CLINTON HASTINGS. 

country between Burlington and Davenport, a distance of ninety 
miles. The western limit of this jurisdiction being nnconiined, the 
ambitious young magistrate, for his own satisfaction, fixed it at the 
Pacific Ocean — not having the fear of Mexico before his eyes. The 
first and only case during his term of office was a criminal charge 
against a man found gnilty, by the Justice, of stealing thirty dollars 
Irom a citizen and three dollars from the court. The sentence, char- 
acteristic of the early and summary jurisprudence of the West, was 
that the prisoner be taken to an adjacent grove and tied to an oak 
tree, and receive upon his back thirty lashes for the money stolen 
from the citizen and three lashes for the three dollars taken from 
the Court, and to be thence conveyed over the river to the Illinois 
shore, and banished from the Territory forever. This sentence was 
duly, formally, and thoroughly executed in presence of the court 
and all the people. 

On June 12, 1838, Iowa was created a separate Territory, and 
Judge Hastings soon after became the Democratic candidate of his 
district, for the first Legislature to assemble under the Territorial 
government. To this position he was elected after a very spirited 
contest; and from time to time thereafter, and until 1846, when 
Iowa was admitted into the Union, he continued in public life, rep- 
resenting his constituents either in the House or Council. During 
one of these sessions of the Territorial Legislature, he was elected 
President of the Council and discharged the duties of the office with 
marked ability and dispatch. At another session, while a member 
of the Judiciary Committee, and associated with Hon. James "VV. 
Grimes, since United States Senator, he reported from the com- 
mittee the celebrated statute known in Oregon and Iowa for many 
years as the Blue Book, and this severe and comprehensive task 
was accomplished in ninety days, the limit of a legislative session. 

About this time occurred what is known in the history of Iowa 
as the ^''Missouri TTW," originating in the attempt of the sheriff of 
Clark County, Missouri, and other Missouri officials, to collect taxes 
within the territorial limits of Iowa. Governor Boggs, of Missouri, 

536 



SERRANUS CLINTON HASTINGS. 5 

and Governor Lncas, of Iowa, were tlie acknowledged and opposinoj 
leaders of this " war "; and so great was the excitement at that time, 
and so bitter the feeling engendered, that bloodshed seemed in- 
evitable. Judge Hastings took an acti\e part in the conflict ; he 
left his seat in the Legislature, repaired to Muscatine, and assumed 
command of the " Muscatine Dragoons," and three companies 
of militia. Without tents or sufficient clothing, with no arms 
save pistols and bowie-knives, no forage for his animals, and but 
a scanty supply of food for his men, he led his force, in the 
middle of a severe and bleak winter, to the northern boundary 
of Missoui'i. The result of this campaign was the bloodless 
but glorious capture of the obnoxious sherifl", who was taken in 
triumph back to the outraged soil of Iowa and lodged in the Mus- 
catine county jail. Before Major Hastings could again cross the 
Missouri line, where the Missouri forces were arming and preparing 
to meet him, the difiiculties were adjusted and peace fully restored. 
Shortly after the termination of this serio-comic campaign Major 
Hastings was appointed on the governor's staff, with the rank of 
major of militia. 

Early in 1S46 a convention of the people of Iowa assembled at 
the capitol and accepted the boundaries proposed by Congress for 
the new State. Major Hastings was unanimously nominated for 
Congress, and elected subsequently by the people. Iowa being ad- 
mitted into the Union, December 28, 1846, he took his seat as her 
representative in the twenty-ninth Congress. With one exception he 
was the youngest member of the House — a body then noted for the 
virtues and abilities of its Representatives. John Quincy Adams 
had not then been removed from the theater of his great triumphs, 
and Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, Andrew Johnson and 
other bright names shone on the roll of members. 

In January, 1848, Major Hastings was appointed Chief Justice 
of the Supreme Court of Iowa, which position he lield a little over 
a year, and then resigned for the purpose of emigrating to Cali- 
fornia. He arrived in that State in the spring of 1849 and settled 

637 



(3 SERIIAXUS CLINTON HASTINGS. 

at Benicia. He was soon thereafter mumiinouslj elected, by the 
Legishiture, Chief Justice of tlie Supreme Court, and served out 
liis term of two years witli cliaracteristic abilit}^ and to the satis- 
faction of all. In 1851 Judge Hastings received the Democratic 
nomination for Attorney-Greneral of California, to which position 
he was elected, receiving the highest vote cast at the election, 
except that given on the same ticket to the candidate for State 
treasurer. This vote was considered highly complimentary, as the 
field M'as occupied solely by his eloquent Whig opponent who 
thoroughly canvassed the State. At the end of his two years' 
term of office he retired from public life, and has not since been 
before the people as a candidate, although he has been prominently 
interested in and identified with the growth and prosperity of his 
adopted State. Judge Hastings was the guest of William H. 
Seward in his tour of observation through Oregon, Washington, 
and Alaska, in the summer of 1869, and private duties interfered 
to prevent him accompanying the distinguished statesman in his 
journey through our sister Republics. 

On the return of Governor Seward, in the summer of the past 
year (ISYO), en route for Japan and China, he was the guest of 
Judge Hastings for about ten days, at his residence in San Fran- 
cisco. The entertainment was highly pleasing to the governor and 
his party, and he often speaks of the hospitality of his friend as 
being unsurpassed. Judge Hastings claims that the people of 
California especially owe a debt of gratitude to William H. Seward, 
and cannot do him too much honor — to say nothing of the respect 
due to one recognized as a great statesman and philosopher by all 
civilized nations. 

The Judge is a married man, and has seven children living; 
three sons and four daughters. He is of an active, nervous tem- 
perament, genial manners, and agreeable presence ; is tall in stature, 
of powerful build, and evidently possesses great physical endurance. 
Although a ready and racy debater, he lays no claim to oratory ; 
nor is he particularly adapted to the legal profession — his nature 

538 



SERRANUS CLINTON HASTINGS 7 

rebelling against the restraints of judicial office, notwitlista.iding 
liis legal attainments are considerable, and his conduct and decisions, 
as the highest judicial functionary of two States, have been generally 
commended, and seldom, if ever, condemned. He is a good Latin 
scholar ; is blessed with large and liberal views, extended informa- 
tion, and fine conversational powers, infused at times with wit and 
Juimor. Politics and finances generally engross his thoughts ; still 
he is addicted to travel, and since he left public office, the greater 
part of his time which could be spared trom the proper superinten- 
dence of his children's education, and the management of his 
estates, has been spent in extended travels in this country and 
Europe. He frequently of late years visits the scenes of his early 
life in Iowa, and is always received by the old settlers of that 
country with demonstrations of pleasure characteristic of the West 
ern pioneer. 

While wearing the honors and cares of office, whirling in the 
di>:zy round of political agitation, he always husbanded his resources, 
and managed his private business with consummate wisdom. Dur- 
ing the exciting, prosperous times when the State of California was 
in its infancy, he wisely foresaw and embraced the opportunity of 
laying a broad and solid foundation fur future wealth. Indeed, his 
whole career, whether viewed from a political or financial stand- 
point, has been one of unbroken success. 

As one of the pioneers of the marvelous development of the 
far West, he is to-day witnessing the fruits of liis early labors, and 
those of his co-workers in the great field of modern progress. 
Scarcely beyond the prime of life, he can now look i)ack upon a 
past well employed, a noble work accomplished, and enjoy that 
satisfaction which emanates from a consciousness of success the 
more abundant that, in advancing individual prosperity, it has also 
enhanced public good. The heart of such a man cannot grow old, 
nor will his memory die. 

639 





^^^ 



V 



SILAS SEYMOUE. 

'WW/^ ^ ^ the development of the material resources of the United 
■\i^ States, bj that elaborate system of railroads and canals 
"i^ I which traverse onr country in all directions, bringing the 
]>eople and ])roducts of its remotest parts into comparative proximity 
with each otht?r, tliere have been mechanical and engineering ques- 
tions presenced, whose solution has required the higliest order of 
ability, as well as great powers of invention and perseverance. That 
these problems have been successfully met, and the most gigantic ob- 
Btacles overcome, is evidenced by the results, which we see before 
us every day. And it is gratifying to us, as Americans, to feel that 
these results ha\e been accomplished almost entirely by the ability 
and perseverance of our American engineers, — some of whom per- 
haps may have received their education abroad, but the majority 
of whom are truly to be termed self-made men, and who have been 
educated by their own works. 

In this latter class stands the subject of this sketch, who, liter- 
ally beginning at the foot of the ladder, has by his own energy and 
ability risen to its top, and having been actually engaged in some 
of the most important engineering operations . of the day, now, 
while yet scarcely past the meridian of life, ranks as one of the 
most prominent civil engineers of our country, and may be fitly 
regarded as one of the " men of progress." 

Silas Seymour was born June 20th, 1817, in the town of Still- 
water, Saratoga County, State of New York. The first eighteen 
years of his life were spent upon a farm with his father, Deacon 
John Seymour, and his grandfather, Deacon "William Seymour, 
who, soon after the Revolutionary War, in which he took an active 
part, had removed from Connecticut to the State of ITcw York. 

541 



2 SILAS SEYMOUR. 

During tliis period, joung Seymour had no opportunity of obtain- 
ing other than a good common school education, and a part of the 
time he worlced as an apprentice at the carpenter and joiner trade. 

In the spring of 1835, he obtained a situation as axeman in 
one of the engineering parties which were making the first surveys 
for the New York and Erie Kaih'oad, through the interior of Sul- 
livan county, New York. After serving about one month in that 
capacity, he was transferred to another party which had been or- 
ganized at the town of Deposit, on the Delaware river, and pro- 
moted to the position of rodman. 

During the latter part of the same year the first forty miles of 
the road, extending from Deposit to the mouth of the Callicoon 
creek, were placed under contract, and Mr. Seymour was appoint- 
ed Assistant Engineer, in charge of a portion of the work. Ben- 
jamin Wright was at that time Chief Engineer of the New York 
and Erie Railroad, Edwin F. Johnson was Associate Engineer, and 
H. C. Seymour was Resident Engineer, in charge of the forty miles 
under construction, and also of the surveys westward toward Bing- 
hamton. 

In tlie spring of 1837, work was suspended upon the railroad, 
and the subject of our sketch embraced the opportunity of devot- 
ing his time to study in the'Fredonia (Ghatauqua county) Aca- 
demy, where he acquired a knowledge of chemistry, natural philo- 
sophy, and the higher mathematics. 

The work was resumed in 1838, and Mr. Seymour's connection 
with the road continued tlirough all its various phases of prosperity 
and adversity until its final completion in 1851, at which time he 
was acting as Chief Engineer of the "Western Division ; Mr. Hor- 
atio Allen was at that time the Consulting Engineer of the Com- 
pany, Major Thompson S. Brown had acted as Chief Engineer 
until the completion of the road to Owego, in Tioga county, when 
he was appointed by the Russian government in the place of Major 
Whistler, who had died while in charge of the railroads then 
being constructed in that country. 

542 



SILAS SEYMOUR. 3 

During Major Brown's connection witli the Erie road, he had 
always placed Mr. Seymour in charge, as Division Engineer, of the 
most difficult portions of the work, both as regards location and 
construction ; and when he resigned to go to Russia, the company 
continued him in the duty to which he had been previously assign- 
ed by the Chief Engineer, which was that of making the final re- 
vision and location of the line between Corning and Dunkirk, the 
western terminus of the road, on Lake Erie. 

la the perlormance of this duty he recommended several 
changes in the line which had been previously adopted and in part 
constructed by the company, in order to r3horten the route, and 
improve tlie ruling grades. Among the most important of these 
changes, which were all adopted by the company, was that in the 
line between the mouth of Little Yalley Creek (now the town of 
Salamanca) and Dunkirk. This change, although it involved the 
loss of several hundred thousand dollars of previous expenditure, 
resulted in reducing the maximum grade, ascending eastwardly 
from Lake Erie, from sixty to forty feet to the mile, and in short- 
ening the distance more than five miles. Its ultimate saving to 
the company has been almost incalculable. 

The New York and Erie Railroad, during the many years of its 
construction, afforded the best possible school for the education of 
civil engineers. It embraced all the varieties of work (except tun- 
neling) that are to be found on the most difiicult lines in this or 
any other country, not excepting even the Union and the Central 
Pacific Railroads. The best and most experienced engineering 
talent available in the country, outside of its regular corps, was 
frequently called into requisition, either by the State, or by the 
company, for the purpose of consulting or deciding upon the se- 
lection of routes or the character of structures. The most favor- 
able opportunities were thus afforded the younger engineers for 
becoming familiar with the views and experiences of the veterans 
in the profession. The result has been that many of the most suc- 
cessful railway engineers in the country have obtained their first 

543 



4 SILAS SEYMOUR. 

and most useful lessons, from their early experience upon tlie New 
York and Erie Railroad. 

Upon the opening of the road to Port Jervis, and subsequently 
to Binghamton, the Board of Directors passed resolutions, com- 
plimenting Mr. Seymour for his skill and energy in comple':ing, 
within the requisite time, the difficult and expensive work over the 
Shawangunk mountain, and along the Delaware river ; and when 
the road commenced running between those points, he was appoint- 
ed Superintendent of Transportation upon that portion of it. 

As the Erie Railroad approached completion, the necessity of a 
railroad connection westward became apparent. The I^ew Tork 
Central Railroad interest had secured control of the Buffalo and 
State Line Railroad, which they were constructing with the nar- 
row gaiige (four feet eight and one half inches) and had arranged 
to pass under the Erie track at a point about three miles east of 
Dunkirk. The Erie and Korth East Railroad was also being built 
with a view of extending the narrow gauge to Erie, in Pennsyl- 
vania, and there connecting, and " breaking," with the Ohio gauge, 
of four feet ten inches. 

Mr. Seymour at this time, having obtained consent of his own 
company, organized the "Dunkirk and State Line Railroad 
Company," of which he became Chief Engineer, and commenced 
building the road. He also secured an exclusive lease of the 
Erie and North East Railroad for the term of tAventy years, with 
the understanding that the six feet gauge of the JSTew York and 
Erie Railroad, and no other, should be extended to Erie, and there 
"break" with the Ohio gauge. This operation, together with a dis- 
position manifested by the people of Erie to still aid the New York 
Central interest in extending their gauge to their town, soon brought 
about a compromise between the two great corporations, by which 
it was agreed that the Buffalo and State Line Railroad (since 
merged in the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Line) should 
be laid with a gauge of four feet and ten inches, should be located 
through the New York and Erie depot at Dunkirk, and should be 

644 



SILAS SEYMOUR 5 

operated for all time, as a strictly neutral road, as between the New 
York Central and the New York and Erie Railroad interests. 

This arrangement, it was supposed, would create a perfect break 
of ffau^e botli at Buffalo and at Dunkirk : but the agreement has 
since been rendered nearly obsolete by the adoption of the "com- 
promise " wheel, which enables the same car to pass over both the 
four teet eight and a half, and the four feet ten inch gauges. 

The citizens of Erie were very much dissatisfied with this ar- 
rangement, for the reason that it left them no break of gauge 
whatever, and they feared their town would thus become a mere 
way station on the Lake Shore Railroad ; whereas they had been 
fondly anticipating the great benefits that would arise to them from 
a break between the Western and the two Eastern gauges, involving 
ail entire change of cars both for freight and passengers. They there- 
fore refused to allow the Erie and North East Railroad gauge to 
be changed from six feet to four feet ten inches, and the celebrat- 
ed " Erie War of gauges" followed, resulting in several disgraceful 
riots, and some bloodshed. But time, and the inexorable laws of 
trade, overcame the difiiculty, and their road eventually fell into 
line, with the other lake shore railroads. The benefits derived by 
tlie Erie Railway Company from this arrangement have been and 
are still very considerable. 

Mr. Seymour laid the last rail upon the Western Division of the 
New York and Erie Railroad, on the 17th of April, 1851, and as- 
sisted at the great celebration of the opening of the road for busi- 
ness, on the 15th of May, following. This celebration was par- 
ticipated in by the President of the United States (Millard Fill- 
more) and his cabinet, including Daniel Webster, then Secretary 
of State, togetlier with several of the most prominent citizens of 
the country. 

The New York and Eric Railroad, at the time of its comple- 
tion, was the first continuous line of railway connecting the At- 
lantic coast ^with the groat Western lakes, in the direction of the 

Pacific Ocean, and therefore constituted the first link of four hun- 
86 545 



Q SILAS SEYMOUR. 

dred and sixty miles in the great chain of railways destined to 
cross the American continent. 

The following editorial notice, clipped from the Omaha (Ne- 
braska) Daily Herald^ of January 25, 1866, contains a brief sketch 
of Mr. Seymour's career down to and including the time of his 
connection with the Union Pacific llaih'oad : 

" Col. Silas Seymour, Consulting Engineer of the Union Pacific 
K,ailroad, has been spending a few weeks among us, and we pro- 
pose to give a few characteristics of himself, and incidents of his 
life. This gentleman is known throughout the country as one 
of our most energetic, thoroughly educated, large minded and 
successful engineers, as his record will show, to which we shall 
refer hereafter. Col. Seymour is about forty-five years of age, 
with no indication of so late a period of life, except that the color 
of his hair has changed somewhat ; of close, compact, well-knit 
frame, symmetrical form, with a face indicative of great deter- 
mination, and bearing the impress of thought in every lineament. 
Associating, as he has for many years, with the first men of the 
times, in literary, political and military circles, and familiar with 
the best society, he has somewhat of an aristocratic air, but is 
genial, social, gentlemanly. Ilis great characteristics we should 
say are perfect coolness and self-possession under all circumstances, 
an unusual power of concentration of all his powers on whatever 
he undertakes, a tenacity of purpose that never yields, an affec- 
tionate disposition, and a dry, pleasant, and sometimes sparkling 
wit; these valuable qualities with a logical mind, well stored 
with useful information, combine to make him one of the pleas- 
antest companions imaginable. 

" He commenced his professional career in connection with the 
New Tork and Erie Railroad, was engaged in its first surveys, and 
labored constantly in connection with the enterprise from 1835 
until its completion, in 185J. His next position was that of 
chief engineer of the Buffalo and New York City liailroad, ex- 
tending from Hornellsville to Buffalo, and of which he was also 

546 



SILAS SEYMOUR. 7 

« 

for some time the general superintendent. Here lie acliieved his 
greatest success in designing; and constructing the famous Portage 
Brido;e across the Genessee River, a structure two hundred and 
thirty-four feet high and eight hundred feet in length. After 
the completion of this monument of his skill, ingenuity and pro- 
fessional judgment, he, together with his associates, contracted 
for the construction and equipment of some of the most important 
roads in the country, embracing the Ohio and Mississippi, Louis- 
ville and Nashville, Maysville and Lexington, Scioto and Hock- 
ing Yalley, New York and Boston Air Line, the Ontario, Simcoe 
and Huron of Canada, "Western of North Carolina, and Sacramento 
Yalley of California. 

" In 1855 he was elected State Engineer and Surveyor General 
of his native State, New York, which responsible office he held 
during 1856-T, and his reports upon the canals and railroads 
of that State are regarded as among the best authorities upon 
these subjects, and have obtained a world-wide reputation for 
accuracy and adaptation. 

"Col. Seymour at about this time established his office in New 
York, as consulting engineer, the duties of which occupied his time 
nntil the breaking out of the rebellion. He was then offered the 
position of brigadier-general in the army, but declined the honor, 
and contented himself with aiding his friend. Gen. Sickles, to 
organize the Excelsior Brigade, which for distinguished services 
and valor in the field has not been excelled by any army organiza- 
tion. During this time Col. Seymour recommended to Gen. 
Cameron, then Secretary of War, the construction of independent 
military railroads leading from the National Capital to New York, 
Pittsburg and Cincinnati ; and also the organization of an indi- 
pendent military railroad bureau, to be placed under the direction 
of the best railroad managers of the country. The former sug- 
gestion unfortunately was not carried out, but the latter was 
adopted, and under the able management of Gen. McCallum, 
wlio commenced his raihoad experience under Col. Seymour, 

547 



g SILAS SEYMOUR, 

has more than justified the "wisdom and foresight of his sugges- 
tions. 

" In 18G2, Col. Seymour was appointed Chief Engineer of the 
Washington and Alexandria Railroad, with a view to construct 
a railroad bridge across the Potomac, which inportant work was 
successfully completed in 1864, In 1863, he was appointed by 
the Secretary of the Interior as Consulting Engineer, and after- 
ward Chief Engineer of the Washington Aqueduct, which office 
he lield for two years, when he resigned on account of a suspen- 
sion of the work for want of an appropriation from Congress, but 
he remained long enough to recommend some important changes, 
which have since been adopted and partially carried out, in the 
plans made by Gen. Meigs, former Chief Engineer, which changes 
were adopted by the Secretary of the Interior and subsequently 
approved by Congress. lie also recommended in his reports 
important improvements in the National Capitol, which met the 
approval of the Department, and must sooner or later command 
the favorable consideration of Congress. Among these, were the 
improvement of the Washington Canal, and the improvement of 
the Potomac River by the construction of a breakwater, so as to 
bring the navigable channel alongside the water front of the city, 
the construction of fountains in the parks, and the perfection of 
a system of drainage and sewerage of the city. 

" Col. Seymour was appointed Consulting Engineer of the 
Union Pacific Road, commencing at Omaha, Nebraska Ter., in 
1864, but owing to other engagements was not able to give that 
work but a portion of his time until the summer of 1865. lie is 
now devoting his best talents to this gigantic work, the great 
national v/ork of the age, and we hope his life may be spared 
till its successful completion. 

"As a thoroughly educated, successful and practical engineer, 
it may be said that Col. Seymour has no superior, and perhaps 
not a rival, in this country. If he has made professional mistakes, 
they have yet to be discovered, and if the numerous works and 

548 



i 



SILAS SEYMOUR ' 9 

structures designed or constructed by liim are defective, either 
in adaptation or permanency, time lias not yet developed the 
fact. His engagement by the managers of tlie Union Pacific 
Railroad is a standing evidence of the sagacity and forethought 
with which that great w^ork is being constructed, and we hope and 
trust that the name of Col. Seymour will go down in history in con- 
nection with others engaged in the great work, as the successful 
engineer of this most wonderful conception of the nineteenth 
century." 

At the time of undertaldng the construction of the Sacramento 
Yalley Eailroad of California, Mr. Seymour very correctly as- 
sumed that it would eventually become the western link in the 
chain of railroads that must sooner or later connect the tide 
waters of the Pacific with those of the Atlantic Ocean. And 
Mr. T. D. Judah, the engineer whom he sent out to take charge 
of that work, was instructed to examine the country up the 
western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, with a view 
of ultimately extending the road eastward. These explorations 
resulted in the adoption of the present route for the Central 
Pacific Railroad. 

Colonel Seymour's nomination and election, in 1855, to the posi- 
tion of State Engineer and Surveyor of the State of ISTew York 
was a recognition by the people of his standing as a civil engineer. 
This is the only political position he has ever held, his experience 
teaching him that political honors were a poor recompense for 
the time spent in the public service, to the neglect of his profes- 
Bional and business interests. 

At the time of his first connection, in the winter of 1863-4, 
with the Union Pacific Railroad^that great enterprise, the con- 
ception and ultimate completion of which were the legitimate 
results of the construction of that first great line from the sea- 
board to the lakes, nearly twenty-five years before^ and with 
whose whole history Mr. Seymour had been so closely identi- 
fied, — very little had been done in the way of locating the line 

549 



10 SILAS SEYMOUR. 

of tlie road, more than that the eastern terminus, or initial point 
had been fixed by the President of the United States at Omaha 
Nebraska, and a few engineering parties had been engaged in 
surveying portions of the country to the west of that town. 
As soon after his appointment as Consulting Engineer as his 
engagements would permit, he visited and examined the pro- 
jected lines, and from that time until its completion, was 
occupied almost entirely with his duties in connection with the 
road. 

These duties were not generally of an executive character, but 
they were always arduous and responsible. Much of his time 
was spent in the office of the company at New York (to which 
city he had then removed from Washington, D. C), preparing 
maps, profiles, plans, estimates, reports, etc., and in general con- 
sultation with the officers of the company. He made frequent 
visits to the line of the road, in company with Mr. T. C. Durant, 
the Vice-President and General Manager, and otliers concerned 
in the work, and generally gave his personal attention to changes 
of route which were adopted by the company upon his recom- 
mendation. 

These duties were not unattended with personal danger, for 
the country was traversed by hostile Indians in all directions. 
He made it a point to always explore the route sufficiently in 
advance of the construction of the road to enable him to give 
an intelligent opinion as to the comparative merits of conilicting 
lines, and in these explorations he was obliged to have an escort 
with him for protection. During one of these reconnoissauces, 
over the Black Hills, west of Cheyenne, while accompanied by 
one of the Division Engineers, and an escort of Pawnee warriors, 
he was threatened by an attack from a large force of hostile 
Sioux. The Pawnees not only promptly repulsed the Sioux, 
driving them back into the mountains, but continued the chaso 
until the following day, leaving the engineers entirely unpro- 
tected. 

550 



SILAS SEYMOUR. H 

Mr. Seymour designed the high bridge over Dale Creek 
Caiion, near the summit of the Black Hill range of the Rocky 
Mountains. This bridge is one hundred and twenty-seven feet 
high, and eight hundred feet long, and stands at an elevation 
of about eight thousand feet above the sea. It is by far the 
most imposing mechanical structure upon the road, and resembles 
in some respects the famous P.>rtage Bridge, which he had con- 
structed several years previously, across the Genesee River, upon 
the Buffalo branch of the Erie Railway. 

During the last year of the construction of the Union Pacific 
Railroad, he spent the greater portion of his time upon the line 
of the road in Utah, where the principal portion of the work 
was being done by the Mormons, under the general direction 
of their President, Brigham Young. At this time a gigantic 
strife was being waged between the Union Pacific and the Cen- 
tral Pacific Companies, as to which should first reach the Great 
Salt Lake Valley with its railroad. Mr. Seymour was here of 
great service in executing the orders and plans of Mr. Durant 
with reference to the rapid extension of the Union Pacific line 
westward, although he repeatedly and earnestly urged upon the 
representatives of both companies the expediency and importance 
of coming to an early and amicable agreement as to the meeting 
point of the two roads. Congress, however, interfered at the last 
moment, and fixed the point of junction at the summit of Pro- 
montory Point, a distance of one thousand and eighty-seven miles 
from Omaha, and of six hundred and ninety miles from Sacra- 
mento. 

The last rail, connecting the two roads, was laid on the 10th 
day of May, 1869, with appropriate ceremonies, at which Mr. 
Seymour, with other principal officers of both companies, had 
the honor of assisting. 

linearly six hundred miles of the Union Pacific Railroad, lying 
directly through the heart of the Rocky Mountains, were com- 
pleted during the last year of its construction; and the entire 

551 



;|2 SILAS SEYMOUR. 

distance of nearly eleven hundred miles was constructed in a 
period of four years — an achievement unparalleled in the history 
of railroad construction, 

Mr, Thomas C. Durant, to whose energy and skill the country 
is mainly indebted for this great national work, in one of his 
published reports to the company, pays the following tribute 
to the subject of this sketch, on account of his services in con- 
nection therewith : — 

" I am also indebted to Colonel Silas Seymour, the Consulting 
Engineer, for valuable suggestions and advice, which his long 
and varied experience in the construction and management of 
railroads, and other works of internal improvement, has rendered 
him so competent to give," 

Mr, Seymour may therefore very justly claim the honor of 
having been more thoroughly identified than any other living en- 
gineer, with the construction of both the initial and terinindl 
links of the great chain of railways, more than three thousand 
miles in length, which now spans the American Continent from 
ocean to ocean. 

During the winter of 18G7-8, under an appointment from the 
Secretary of the Interior, made by authority of a joint resolution 
of Congress, he prepared an elaborate report, accompanied by 
maps, drawings, estimates, etc, upon the subject of improving 
the channel of, and bridging the Potomac River, in the vicinity 
of Washington, D. C, 

The selection by the General Government, from among the 
engineers of the country, of Mr. Seymour, in preference to an 
officer of the regular army corps, for this work, as well as his 
previous appointment on the Washington Aqueduct, were each 
of them high professional compliments. 

The most important work with which he has been connected 
as Consulting Engineer, since the completion of the Union Pacific 
Railroad, is the Adirondack Company's Railroad, which is also 
being constructed by Mr, T, C, Duraut, extending through the 

552 



SILAS SEYMOUR. 13 

grc^it wilderness of ISTortbern New York, from Saratoga Springs 
to Ogdensburgh, on the St. Lawrence River, a distance of nearly 
two hundred miles. 

Mr. Seymour was married on the 23d of December, 1840, to 
Delia, second daughter of the late Hon. George A. French, of 
Dunkirk, Chautauqua County, New York. They now reside in 
New York City and have five children living — Florence, George F., 
James M., Jeanie, and Silas, Jr. 

553 



ISAAC YA'N AI^DEIST. 

[We are indebted to the Brooklyn Monthly, Horace W. Love, proprietor, for the following 

sketch ; it having been written originally for that Magazine, May, 1869.] 

\(i'K,/PllERE are men among us notable in life for various reasons, 
concerning whom our children may well be curious, and 
whose life-histories will be valuable hereafter as encour- 
agements to the thousands who look to them for guidance, or 
accept them as examples. Such a man is the subject of this 
sketch, and the writer will be fortunate if he succeeds in fairly pre- 
senting his many-sided excellencies without falling into the com- 
mon and pernicious habit of flattery. 

Isaac Van Anden was born in the vicinity of Poughkeepsie, 
on his father's farm, perhaps a mile back from the Hudson, where 
his hardy constitution was strengthened by such manual labor 
as the exigencies of his parents' occupation demanded. He 
received a common-school education, working hard in the sum- 
mer and studying in the winter, until old enough to scan for 
himself the horizon of his future. Farming, he thought, Avas 
very well for those who liked it, but to every one else it was 
very decidedly a nuisance. Although his home prospects were 
fairer than the average, he chose a trade, and at a compara- 
tively early age was bound as apprentice in the office of the Pougli- 
keejysie Telegraphy then and now the principal newspaper of Dutch- 
ess County. The contrast between farming and " deviling " was 
marked and cheering. He was soon noticed by his employers as a 
lad of merit, whose industry would in time make him, as it eventu- 
ally did, the best hand in the composing-room. The perfect mas- 
tery of the details of his trade was his capital, and while his 
companions lived the life proverbial among the craft, Yan Anden 

555 



2 ISAAC VAN ANDEN. 

improved his time by thoroughly familiarizuig himself with every 
branch of the Imsiness. Men with capital, whether in brain or 
pocket, need never fear to grapple with the world, and Van 
Anden wisely concluded that Poughkeepsie was a very good 
place to leave. lorming a partnership with a fellow-workman, 
Alexander Lee, in 1837 he purchased from Samuel G. Arnold 
the Westchester Spy, and settled at White Plains. The firm 
made money slowly, as was the custom in those days, but Yan 
Anden thought in time he would achieve success even there, and 
was about extending his business area when he received a proposi- 
tion from Mr. Arnold, who had removed to Brooklyn, to join him 
in publishing a Brooklyn paper, called the Adcocate. lie accepted 
the proposal, sold the Spij to his partner, and joined Mr. Arnold. 
The Advocate lived along, sometimes doing well, and other times 
doing worse, until 1S40, when it was merged into a paper called the 
Daily Neios, under the same management. It could not afford the 
luxury of politics, but was conducted on the neutral policy until the 
necessities of the Whigs induced William A. Green to purchase it, 
as an organ of that party, in 1841, at which time the partnership 
of Arnold & Yan Anden was dissolved, and the latter started the 
Brooklyn Eagle as a Democratic journal. 

This, properly speaking, was the birthday of Mr. Yan Anden. 
It was a day of small things indeed, and he who could have pre- 
dicted the wondrous change and growth now patent to the eyes of 
all, would be regarded as a false prophet, a lunatic or an enthusiast. 
It is of course impossible, from this point on, to consider Mr. Yan 
Anden without touching the Eagle. In a little room, with two or 
three cases and a small hand-press, we imagine him at wt)rk on 
his bantling. Early and late he toiled and struggled. Those were 
the days of trial, when everything was on his shoulders, and each 
day's issue was an experiment. 

Mr. Kichard A, Locke, the "Moon Hoax" man, was the first 
editor of the Eagle. He was a clever writer, but not much of an 
enterpriser. New York had no papers then of great enterprise, and 

656 



ISAA.CVANANDEN. 3 

the evening journals of the day were very much what they are now, 
unposted Iiand-bills with a stereotyped heading. The consequence 
Avas tliat the Eagle was not a great pecuniary success. In point of 
fact, it was not a success in any sense of the term, except typo- 
graphically. The heading of to-day is precisely like that of 1841; 
the type and general make-up are identical with those of its first 
impression. Through seasons of absolute adversity he has kept his 
skirts clean of abominations of any kind, leaving also to the '' re- 
spectable " issues of the day a monopoly of the so-called medical 
advertisements which they find so profitable as to be irresistible. 
Brooklyn at that time was comparatively a small place. Farms oc- 
cupied what is now tiie center of the city. Pearl Street was con- 
sidered " the best place for investment." Lovers walked out of 
town for tlie purpose of a pleasant promenade through the poplar- 
shaded retreat of Love Lane. Kickety omnibuses jogged people 
up to the City Hall. And yet party lines were very strictly 
drawn, and party debates waxed very warm, time and again afi'ord- 
iug opportunities which the modern newspaper m.an would make 
much of, and .the modern editor turn to good account. Li those 
days the Whig citizens and the Loco-foco citizens of respectability 
did not deem it beneath their dignity to attend primaries, canvass 
districts, distribute circulars and tickets, stand at the polls, or do* 
many details of political necessity which are now left to hired men, 
or to the unscrupulous loafers who attach themselves to all parties. 
But we looked in vain for any reports of meetings, any personal 
allusions, any editori.<»l comment on the course of this, that, or the 
other man — matters which are now the merest fringe of the warp 
and woof of a well made paper. And from this and other suggest- 
ive exponents, it is made evident that the Eagle's prosperity is the 
result of the growth and need of the city, rather than the outwork- 
ing of any well-considered and skillfully-executed plan of its con- 
ductors. There were times when even Yan Anden's courage fell, 
and his industry seemed to avail for naught. He was prompt with 
all his payments, and constant in attention to business. His job- 

557 



4 ISAAC VAN ANDEN. 

work was well done, and although he never solicited, he gradually 
received a large share of the orders which formerly went to New 
York. The Democratic party, too, gradually grew, and such assist- 
ance as it could give was thrown in the way of the Eagle and its 
joh-office. 

The death of Mr. Locke led to the engagement of Mr. Marsh as 
editor of the Eagle. He was, like his predecessor, a man of general 
rather than available ability, and paid his attention rather to his 
" leaders " than to the conduct of the paper. 

At the time of Mr. Marsh's accession the paper needed the atten- 
tion of a publisher and reporter quite as much as that of an editor. 
It is narrated somewhere that Mr. Yan Anden startled the people 
of Brooklyn one day by a stroke of enterprise which was laudable, 
though now it would not be noticed. A lire took place in Fulton 
Street, not far from Cranberry Street, at eight o'clock in the morn- 
ing. Yan Anden heard of it, of course, and sent one of the boys 
from his office to the scene. He returned with a memorandum of 
the losses and insurance, which were published in the afternoon's 
Eagle and became the town-talk for a week. 

In the course of years other men united with Mr. Yan Anden. 
He, however, always supervised the entire matter after it was put 
upon the " hook." But careful and cautious as he was, he could not 
overcome the prejudice raised by McCloskey, a former assistant, 
against the paper, and steps were taken by a number of wealthy 
gentlemen to establish a newspaper wliicli should be "loyal." 
Never had men of experience such an opportunity. The field 
was vast, the occasion meet, the time propitious. Mr. Yan Anden 
shrewdly saw the effect which a well-conducted opposition must 
necessarily produce, and although he made ample preparation to 
meet it, he watched its coming with well-grounded apprehension. 

Many a time has Mr. Yan Anden laughed, with tears in his hon- 
est eyes, as he recounted his forebodings down to the very day on 
which the Union was to appear, and the enormous relief he expe- 
rienced when he read its first issue. But unprofessional and jejune 

658 



ISAAC VAN ANDEN. 5 

as the new-comer proved, it produced one salutary effect. It 
taught Yan Auden that there were other fields to occupy and other 
elements to consider, besides the simple growth of the city, which, 
though enougli to insure the ixxuniary success of his paper, was 
not all that was needed to make it a journalistic success. The war 
had begun and was progressing backwards in the good old back- 
woods style; the politicians were managing matters at Washington, 
and rascals made fortunes at every turn. Every man, woman, and 
child was interested in the news, and every journal scattered its 
circulation through the communit}'^ at its pleasure. Extras sold 
rapidly, and contradictions were worth double the money. Trade, 
too, seemed to feel the unnatural excitement, and advertisements 
poured into the publication offices like water from a fountain. 

No man is quicker to detect the diift of affairs than Mr. Yan 
Anden, and when the first draft was made in Brooklyn, in succes- 
sive editions he published the names of the fortunate men who 
secured prizes, and sent up his circulation many thousands. The 
intensity of the excitement was such that, during the procedure of 
the draft and the subsequent examinations, tlie daily issue of the 
Eagle exceeded that of the month before by some six or eight thou- 
sand, and kept it. The impetus given tlie Eagle at that time sent 
it far ahead of its old location, and put it in the very van of evening 
journalism. About this time an arrangement was effected by Mr. 
Kinsella, Mr. Yan Anden approving, with Mr, Howard, then of 
the New York Times' staff, to organize a " City Pepartment," con- 
sisting of a full corps of experienced reporters, who should be sub- 
ject to his direction and furnish the news of the day in complete 
shape. The accession to the force necessitated some change in the 
interior olfice arrangements, and Mr, Yan Anden, who by this time 
had amassed and saved a large fortune, expended liberally the 
wherewithal to provide better accommodations for the working 
force of his paper than can be found to-day in any evening news- 
paper establishment in the country. In fact, Mr. Yan Anden's 
theory has ever been that a journal conducted in the best interests 

559 



6 ISAAC VAN ANDEN. 

of the city conld not fail to be a great success, and so it proved. 
But aside from this essential cause, there were others bearing 
directly upon it. 

When the Sanitary Fair was opened at the Academy of Music, 
the Eagle was enhirged, and signaled its first appearance in new- 
dress by an elaborate and detailed description of every table, every 
article, every committee, and every project of the Fair. Day after 
day it devoted columns to the doings and developments of the occa- 
sion, aiding very materially in its success, to which also Mr. Yan 
Anden contributed most liberally by cash and the use of his job- 
room and his advertising columns. The readers of the Eagle doubt- 
less remember the " Dead-Beat " articles on the Sanitary Fair, but 
it is doubtful if they are aware of tlieir history. As is customary 
at fairs, a little paper was published by several gentlemen, called the 
" Drum-Beat^'' The writer was at the Academy when the Druw- 
Beat first appeared, and after scanning its contents, remarked : 
•■' Well, that's more like a Dead-Beat than a Drum-Beat," and at; 
once conceived the idea of writing an extravaganza from the Fair 
under the burlesque caption " Dead-Beat." It was done, and the 
rush for the edition Avas such that, at Mr. Van An den's request, it 
was continued, and became a daily feature. When Mr. Howard 
left the Eagle Mr. John Stanton succeeded him as city editor, and 
continued the extravaganzas on divers subjects, merging the signa- 
ture into his well-known " Corry O'Lanus," which remains to the 
present writing a salient feature of Saturday's issue. 

But now that we present the paper at the summit of its prosper- 
ity, it may be well to estimate the effect of such marked success 
upon the proprietor. As a lad he was sober, courteous, generous, 
and industrious ; as a man he was the same ; when in the toils of 
doubtful struggle, he was the same; as doubt disappeared and hope 
loomed above the horizon, he was the same ; and to-day, as he sits 
master of the situation, with everything that mortal man can desire 
of earth, he is but the more confirmed in every kindly instinct, 
every generous impulse, every honorable resolve. From time to 

560 



ISAAC VAN ANDEN. 7 

time las fellow-citizens, desirous of indicating their regard and 
respect for liim as a man and a public-spirited resident, have 
tempted him with office, but he has resolutely and wisely refused. 
No newspaper-man can afford the luxury of office. It makes him 
an object of attack, loosens his grasp on the rein of control, lowers 
Lim in the estimation of the masses, and puts him under obligation 
to the men whom he ought to command. This may not have been 
the ground of Mr. Yan An den's refusal. He is eminently quiet in 
his habits and domestic in his tastes, caring little for society outside 
of his home-circle, and mingling but little with the busy world 
beyond the routine of daily business ; and this very likely has bad 
somewhat to do witli his resolute seclusion from politics. And yet 
in «,11 matters of general interest he is among the first to whom 
appeals are made, and among the generous his place is at the front. 
Mr. Yan Anden has indeed achieved success, but as it has never 
been at the sacrifice of honor or the exercise of sharp dealing, 
neither has it been by the practice of selfishness, of stinginess, or a 
disregard of the wants and distresses of his fellows. If it were 
entirely proper to withdraw the veil which screens his private 
from his public life, a domestic picture would be disclosed embody- 
ing the elements of filial aftection, brotherly regard, and generous 
impulse to an extent not often equaled. 

One would imagine naturally that a life of such thorough and 
exacting toil as Mr. Yan Anden leads would weary and exhaust 
him, but, although he withholds himself from society to a very 
large extent, he has never failed to make time for the advancement 
of public enterprise and the bearing of his fair proportion of public 
labor. To him personally and through his paper we are very 
largely indebted for the Prospect Park, which promises in time to 
eclipse the splendors of Central Park. The opposition encountered 
by the scheme was very great, but tlie common-sense arguments 
of the Eagle silenced all objections, and materially aided in its 
adoption. Had Mr, Yan Anden been made at first, as he was 
subsequently, a Commissioner, it is likely there would have been 
S6 . 561 



8 ISAAC VAN ANDEN. 

less well-grounded complaint about the expensive management. 
The Brooklyn Bridge project was agitated by Mr. Van Andeu long 
before it assumed definite shape, and when public interest flagged 
he I'oused it again, and was still more persistent until the subscrip- 
tion papers were ready, and then, as is his custom, indorsing his 
words by his deeds, he put down one of the largest individual 
subscriptions upon the list. He is a director in tiie Mechanics' 
Bank, the Brooklyn Life Insurance Company, the Standard Life 
Insurance Company, and the Safe Deposit Company, being a Park 
Commissioner and an incorporator and director in the East liiver 
Bridge Company. He was upon the Democratic electoral ticket 
in 1865 and 1869 — once defeated, once elected. 

As business is business with Mr. Van Anden, it is fair to call 
him, in view of the many duties here indicated, a man of industry. 
And yet so systematic and orderly are his ways that he manages 
to throw off with ease a multiplicity of work, which would embar- 
I'ass and break down a man of less method. Mr. Van Anden lives 
on Columbia Street, his venerable mother and widowed sister shar- 
ing his hospitality ; and we doubt if a more attractive interior or a 
happier household can be found within the City of Churches. 

In common with others, we have watched with interest the grow- 
ing independence of the £agle in social and political matters. This 
is due partly to the mitural honesty of Mr. Van Anden's disposition, 
largely to the strong common sense of Mr. Kinsella, somewhat to 
infelicitous local party management, and a little to certain defeated 
aspirations. 

As at present surrounded, Mr. Van Anden is one of the most 
fortunate of men. He has a superbly-titted establishment, and u 
newspaper which ranks among the lirst evening dailies in the land. 
His editor-in-chief is characterized by strong common sense, and a 
desire to do what is best and most fair ; his style is vigorous and 
his method practical ; his ideas sound and his suggestions honest; 
as a friend he is sincere, as an opponent courteous, as an enemy 
implacable. 

562 . 



ISAAC VAN ANDEN. 9 

It would be difficult to point to a more rounded experience 
than that of Mr. Yan Atiden. lie has passed the meridian of 
a stormy life, and stands now upon the eminence of honorable 
success. Looking back, we doubt if he can discover the trace of 
an unfair bargain, an ungenerous act. His family love him, his 
companions and subordinates are greatly attached to him, his 
neighbors respect and his fellow-citizens honor him. He has con- 
ducted his business, from the day of small attempts, through years 
of doubtful struggle, past the rocks of danger, down to the present 
hours of peace and prosperity.- He has made easy and happy the 
latter days of his revered mother, and provided places of rest and 
enjoyment for others dear and near to him. His name is known in 
the public places as that of an honorable man, and his influence is 
for the best interests of his city and land. 

Into that privacy which is the privilege of every individual, it is 
not our province here to enter, but there is a life led by the subject 
of this hasty sketch, which may not here be written, the outcrop- 
pings of which are gentle consideration to the poor and humble, 
generosity and self-sacrifice in the interests of the less prosperous, 
courtesy and good-will toward all mankind. And that it may be 
long ere that branch of Mr. Yan Anden's life is properly spoken of, 
is the cordial wish of all who know him. 

563 




^^ y^ 





H. L KIMBALL. 

^^ S a representative of legitimate and enliglitened enter- 
prise, and an exponent of modern progress, a progress 
wliosc beneficent results enhance public good as well as 
individual prosperity, a progress whose aim and ultimatum accept 
nothing short of abundant success, Mr. II. I. Kimball of Georgia is 
entitled to marked pre-eminence. 

He is the fifth sou of Mr. Peter Kimball ; was born in Oxford 
county, Maine, A.D., 1832. In early life he learned the carriage 
maker's trade, and at the age of 10 was called to take charge of one of 
the most extensive carriage manufactories in the United States, At 
the age of 21, the firm evidenced their appreciation of his executive 
and financial ability, by admitting him to full partnership. The 
business of this establishment being principally with the Soutli, it 
was entirely broken up by the war, and resulted in the loss, by Mr. 
Kimball, of his entire estate, and the business passed into other 
hands. In no wise discouraged, and having the spirit of a man not 
willing to become a servant in his own house, he left the carriage 
business, and served as superintendent of a Mining Company in 
Colorado, until the Spring of 18G5. Failing in health, he left Colo- 
rado, and became interested with Mr. George M. Pullman, and 
established the sleeping car lines throughout the South, making his 
headquarters at Atlanta, Ga., where in a very few months he com- 
pletely regained his former vigorous health. Being a man of 
original ideas and forethought, as well as one of remarkable per- 
severance and executive ability, he became largely interested in 
the business welfare and social advancement generally of his 
adopted city and State. 

In the progress of reconstruction, the Constitutional Convention 

565 



2 H. I. KIMBALL. 

of Georgia, whidi met at Atlanta, designated that place as the 
capital of the State. Mr. Kimball, seeincr the importance of im- 
mediately providing a suitable capitol building in order that the 
seat of government might be permanently located in Atlanta^ 
purchased the property known as the Atlanta Opera House (which 
had been abandoned by the projectors, when only the walls were 
up), and commenced the erection of a State House on his individual 
account and responsibility ; and in less than iive months the un- 
sightly structure was converted into a magnificent edifice, being 
finished and famished in a manner unsurpassed by any State capitol 
in the Union. Notwithstanding the many difficulties he had to 
enco-anter, not only in procuring the labor and material for this 
work, but, to overcome the prejudices of the people, day and night 
found him at his post, v/ith his men, acting as architect and leader in 
the various parts, determined to accomplish his object. The result 
was, the building v/as completed and dedicated for the purpose in- 
tended on the very day he had appointed four months previous. 

Early in the year of 1870, the city of Atlanta, having contracted 
with the State Agricultural Society of Georgia for the preparation 
of grounds and buildings, in which the Exposition of that year 
should be held, called upon the indefatigable Kimball, and through 
his skill, ability, and financial aid, in the short space of five 
months, a wilderness of nearly sixty acres in extent was converted 
into a magnificent pleasure park, with all the necessary buildings, 
race-tracks, lakes, drives, etc., etc., pronounced one of the finest and 
best adapted for the purpose, extant. 

" Scarcely had the contract been concluded, v/hich was to insure 
the preparation of the grounds in a becoming style for the State 
Fair, when, appreciating another necessity, with characteristic 
promptness and daring he resolved to overcome it, and on Saturday, 
March 26, he purchased the site of the old "Atlanta Hotel;" the 
following Monday morning ground was broken for the largest and 
finest hotel south of New York city, at which time he announced 
that the building would be completed and ready for the reception 

566 



H. I. KIMBALL. 3 

of guests on the iTtli of October fullowing. As startling and 
almost incredible as this announcement seemed, even to the people 
of Atlanta, the promise was made good, and " The II. I. Kimball 
House" dates the idea which gave it birth, and the banquet which 
hailed its opening v/ithin less than seven months time. This mag- 
nificent building is about the size of the Fifth Avenue Hotel, T^ew 
York, with a frontage of 210 feet, 165 feet deep, six stories high, 
containing 350 rooms, elegantly finished and faultlessly fm'nishod ; 
and it stands to-day, a splendid monumejat to the brilliant concep- 
tion and grand constructive genius, no less than to the unparalleled 
and untiring energy of him whose name it deservedly bears. 

Mr, Kimball is intimately identified with other important enter- 
prises in the South, having built over 100 miles of railway during 
the past year ; and was in no small degree instrumental in rearing 
the magnificent railroad depot which graces the city of Atlanta. 

In whatever community he resides, he wins the attention and 
admiration of the people. He has often had offers of high political 
place and power, but declined all such, and studiously avoided any 
mingling, save as a private citizen, in the political issues of the day. 

Although Mr. Kimball has, by an untiring energy and remark- 
able ability, already'' amassed a competency of more than half a 
million of dollars, it is not to be expected that he will rest content 
in his onward march of prosperity. Still in the vigor of manhood, 
encouraged by past success, and resolved on future triumphs, it is 
but reasonable to predict that he will attain a degree of wealth and 
honor sufiicicnt to gratify any laudable ambition, coupled with that 
satisfaction which emanates from a consciousness of doing good in 
proportion to increasing ability. 

In personal appearance, Mr. Kimball is prepossessing, and seems 
the embodiment of health and good cheer, without approaching 
obesity. He is pleasant and unaffected in manner, entertaining in 
conversation, frank and generous with ail whom he encounters in 
business or social intercourse. With the manifold cares of his 
various enterprises to command his attention, he is nevertheless 

567 



4 H. I. KIMBALL. 

always genial and pleasant, devoting mucli of his time to his family, 
and frequently visiting his aged parents. Using the Bible for his 
guide, he is efficient in church and Sabbath-school, and sustain 
an unblemished Christian character, with mental faculties and 
physical resources unimpaired by excesses of any kind. 

Not yet thirty-nine years of age, he cannot be said to hare 
reached the prime of life, and certainly gives every promise of a 
brilliant future and a long career of usefulness before him. 

Well may Georgia, his adopted State, be proud of such a 
citizen ! , 

568 



EUFUs BEowisr bullook:, 

GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA. 

"l %~m^^ subject of this sketch was born in the town of Betlilehera, 
'''<r^M in the County of Albany, State of iN'ew York, on the 2Stli 
^ ^ day of March, ISSi, and is the oldest son of Yolkert Yee- 
der Bullock and Jane Eliza Bullock. 

His grandfather on his father's side, Mr. Joseph Bullock, came 
from Yorkshire, England, prior to the Revolution, purchased, set- 
tled, and cultivated large tracts of land in Albany and adjoining 
counties, and married Margaret Yeeder, of Schenectady, one of the 
old original Dutch, or Knickerbocker, families that settled about 
the headwaters of the Hudson at the time of the grants to the Yan 
Rensselaers. His grandfather on the mother's side was Mr. Rufus 
Brown, for many years a wealthy and enterprising merchant of 
Albany, and who married Cornelia McClellan, a lady of Scotch- 
Irish descent. 

When the subject of our sketch was seven years of age his parents 
removed to Orleans County, in Western New York, where they 
reside at the present time. At the age of fifteen he graduated at 
the Albion Academy, and then entered a country-store as clerk, 
where he remain'ed for one year. 

He then engaged actively in the construction and opening of the 
House Printing- Telegraph line between IN'ew York, Albany, and 
Buffalo, and continued in the pursuit of this calling, having invented 
and introduced many important improvements in the construction 
and operation of telegraphs, until the year 1856, when he enga"-ed 
with Professor Hughes in developing and bringing into notice the 
Hughes system of Printing-Telegraph, and opened an opposition 
line in connection with tlie then American Telegraph Company, 

569 



2 RUFU.S BROWN BULLOCK. 

between New York and Pbiladclphia. It was over this wire and 
with these iustiuinents, under the management of the subject of 
car sketch, that the first game of chess was played hy telegrapli, 
being a match-game between the celebrated Chess Clubs of Phila- 
delpliia and New York. 

His services were soon after sought and secured by the managers 
of the Adams Express Company, and lie removed to the South, 
making his headquarters at Augusta, Georgia, where he has since 
made his home, and has established a reputation as a thorough- 
going, practical bnsiness man, and has acquired a competency. 

During the war he remained in the South, having general charge 
of the Express service. Soon after the close of the war, he, together 
with other gentlemen connected with the Express Company, organ- 
ized and established one of the first national banks which were 
organized in the State, and became one of its directors. 

After the failure of President Johnson's efforts at reconstruction, 
and the presentation by Congress of its reconstruction policy, Mr. 
Bullock accepted the nomination as one of the delegates from his 
district to a constitutional convention to frame a constitution for 
the State. Some difficulty having arisen between the military 
commander and the then Governor of the State, which necessitated 
his I'emoval by military order, the Constitutional Convention, with 
great mianimity — by nearly a three-fourths vote of all its mem- 
bers — recommended the name of Mr. Eullock to the military com- 
mander for appointment as provisional governor. lie participated 
actively and indiistriously in the deli])erations of the Convention, 
and the Constitution of the State^ which is admitted hy all to be 
one of the most conservative and desirable of any that were framed 
by the Constitutional Conventions in the Southern States, bears 
many marks of his sagacity and practical ability. 

Upon the completion of tlie Constitution and the organization of 
a party to go before the people in its support and seeking its ratifi- 
cation, Mr. Bullock was nominated bj' acclamation as the recon- 
struction or Republican candidate for governor of the State, and 

570 



EUFUS BROWN BULLOCK. 3 

was elected by over 8,000 majority, although the opposition took 
an active part in the contest, led by that distinguished soldier, ex- 
Lieut.-General John B. Gordon of the C S. A. 

In his administration of the State's affairs since his inauguration, 
much discussion over his official acts and much violent denuncia- 
tion has occurred on account of the Legislature having expelled 
from its body the colored members who were elected to it, and the 
firm stand taken by the Governor in demanding that Congress 
should take such action as was necessary to secure the restoration 
of the expelled members. The action desired by the Governor 
■was, upon the recommendation of President Grant, taken by Con- 
gi'ess in December, 18G9, and the Legislature of the State was 
organized b}^ the restoration of its colored members, and the ex- 
clusion of ineligible members, in January, 1870. 

His public papers and documents give evidence more of a deter- 
mined purpose to accomplish practical results, than of a desire to 
attain distinction as a political theorist. His administration has 
been marked by a rapid and permanent improvement of the State's 
material interests, more miles of railroad iiaving been constructed 
since his inauguration than during any period of ten years before 
the war ; and, with one or two exceptions, the roads now in opera- 
tion in the State are paying good dividends to the stockholders, 
and the taxable value of the property within the State has very 
largely increased. A frce-scliool system is being established and 
extended, and every measure which looks to thfe improvement of 
the people, and the development of the State's resources, seems to 
meet with the hearty, earnest, and industrious support of Governor 
Bullock. 

The relatives and kinsmen of Governor Bullock are among the 
foremost men of New York State and of the country, yet he has 
ever relied upon his own exertions, and the friends whom he has 
made by his own position and abilities, and is therefore one of the 
self-made men of America. 

571 



%. 





I 



GEOEGE W. QUmTARD. 

^W^ EOKGE W. QUINTAED was born in Stanford, Conn., 
^i^l on tho 22d of April, 1S23. His father, Isaac Quintard, 
d^p^ and liis progenitors, had resided in that town for several 
generations, and were distinguished for probity and intelligence. 
After receiving the usual education given in the public schools of 
the town, the subject of this sketch, at the age of fifteen, followed 
the custom of most bright boys of Connecticut, and came, in quest 
of fortune, to New York. Finding employment in one of tho 
leading houses in the grocery trade, he followed that calling with 
industry and fidelity for five or six years, after which he embarked 
in business on Iiis own account, and continued in it for four years. 
In 184:7, being then only twenty-five years of age, he became 
one of the firm oi T. F. Secor & Co., in the Morgan Iron Works, 
of Kcw York, and three years later, in 1850, became a co-propri- 
etor of that large establishment, with Charles Morgan, whose 
daughter he married, and who then, as now, was one of the lead- 
ing and most opulent ship-owners and merchants of the city. 

In 1852, Mr. Quintard assumed the control, and from that time 
up to the year 1 857, with the exception of two years, was the sole 
manager of the works, which for the volume of its business, and 
the high repute it bore, was second in extent to no other similar 
manufacturing concern in the country. During the eventful period 
of the war, Mr. Quintard enjoyed in the highest possible degree 
the confidence of the government at TVashington. He was often 
consulted by the higher ofiicials of the IsTavy Department in refer- 
ence to the construction of steam vessels of war, and built and sold 
to the government a larger number of those vessels than was built 
by any other private establisliment. Indeed so honorably cou- 



GEORGE W. QUINTARD. 



spicuous had becoixic tlie reputation of the Morgan Iron Works, 
that when, in 1863, the Italian Government determined to build 
two first-class frigates in this city, Mr. Quintard was selected to 
construct the engines for the Tie de Italia. 

Between the years 18G1 and 1864, Mr. Quintard built for the 
United States Government the engines for the following war 
steamers : 



Onondaga, 
Wachuset, 
Seminole, 

Muscoota, 
Chenango, 
Ticondcroga, 
Kinneo. 



Ammonoosuc, 

Chippewa, 

Kathadin, 

Ascutuey, 

Idaho, 

Tiosa. 



And for ocean steamers, in the merchant service, engines for the 
following : 



Golden Rule, 

Herman Livingston, 

Manhattan, 

Kaleigh, 

Albemarle, 

Cambridge, 

City of Hartford, 

Everglade, 

Mississippi, 

Charles Morgan, 

Granite State, 

San Francisco, 

Fulton, 

Peiho, (China), 

Bienville, 

W. G. Hawes, 



General Barnes, 
Vera Cruz, 
Rapidan, 
Hatteras, 
Eastern Queen, 
Continental, 
Fah-lvee (China), 
Cosmopolitan, 
Orizaba, 
Kautilus, 
Golden Age, 
Georcre Law, 
Tangsee, (China), 
De Soto, 
Peruano, 
Ocean Queen, 



574 



GEORGE W. QUIKTAED. 3 

Flushing, New Brunswick, 

Island Home, Commonwealtli, 

Alabama, Yilla Clara. 

Also the Engines for the follov^ing steamers on the "Western 
Lakes — steamers that in their day were of dimensions and fitted up 
with appointments not surpassed by those of any of the steamers 
on the North River or elsewhere : 

Southern Michigan, Northern Indiana, 

Great Metropohs, Queen City. 

In 1SG7, Mr. Quintard disposed of his interest in the Morgan 
Iron AVorks to Mr. John Eoach, and became principal proprietor 
and president of the Nev/ York and Charleston Steamship Com- 
pany, and still continues at the head of that corporation. 

In 18G9, he became interested in the Quintard Iron Works, an 
extensive establishment for the manufacture of steam engines and 
machinery, his principal associate in the proprietorship being James 
Murphy, Esq., long and favorably known as one of the prominent 
and most successful men in that particular branch of industry, Mr. 
Murphy's son being also a member of the fn-m. 

Eev/ men cf his years have been participants in works of greater 
magnitude than Mr. Quintard, while at the same time few have 
been more active in institutions of practical benevolence. 

Besides the presidency of two princixjal companies last above 
named, Mr. Quintard, is a director in the Manhattan Life Insur- 
a,nce Company of New York ; director in the Metropolitan Sav- 
ings Bank, and Butchers and Drovers Bank ; director in the Lcr- 
illard, and Adriatic Eire Insurance Companies; director in the 
Great Southern Steamship Company, (Livingston, Eox & Co.) ; 
president of the New England and Nova Scotia Steamship Com- 
pany, (Portland to Halifax), Yice-president of the Eleventh "Ward 
Bank, and trustee in the Eastern Dis]jensary; and in each of these 

corporations takes an active and prominent part. 

575 



EEY. T. DE WITT TALMAGE 



BY J. AXEXANDER PATTEN. 



f'S^^EV. T. DE WITT TALMAGE was born near Bound Brook, 
^f%;f ^ew Jersey, January 7, 1832. He is the son of David 
^'t^ ^ Talmage, who at one time was sheriff of Somerset County. 
Four brothers of this fan)ily are in the ministry, viz, : James E. 
Tahnage, D. D. ; Jolm V. IST. Tahnage, D. D., distingnislied mis- 
sionary in China ; Goyn Talmage, and T. Do Witt Tahnage. An- 
other brother was the late Daniel Talmage, well-known rice mer- 
cliant of New York, and one of the originators of the ]^ative Amer- 
ican party and the order of United Americans. The subject of our 
notice graduated at the University of the City of New York in 1853, 
and at the Theological Seminary, New Brunswick, in 1856, During 
the summer of the same year he was called to Belleville, New York, 
wliere he was duly ordained and installed. He remained in this 
position about three years, when, in 1859, he was called to the Sec- 
ond Reformed Church of Philadelphia, where he labored seven 
years. From his earliest appearance in the pulpit he commanded 
marked public attention. Ue showed himself to be a man of origi- 
nal thought, and an orator of no mean ability. Hence crowds flocked 
to hear him, and his congregation grew in numbers and influence. 
At a period when his church in Philadelphia was in an extremely 
flourish.ing condition, he was invited to the pastorship of the Cen- 
tral Presbyterian Church., located on Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, 
which was somewhat feeble and disorganized. He accepted, and 
was installed in April, 1869, 

The Central Presbyterian Church was at an earlier date located 
in Willoughby street, where for some time it was in charge of the 
37 577 



2 T.DEVITTTALMAGE. 

Eev. Mr. Duffielcl. On the 13th of February, 1 851, the Rev. Dr. J, 
Edson Rockwell was installed as the pastor, and thus remained fur 
some fourteen years, when he accepted a call to a Presbyterian 
Church on Staten Island. The congregation, after many trials, in 
which they were continually called upon to appreciate the cheerful 
hope and untiring energy of Dr. Rockwell, were enabled to build 
an edifice in Schernierhorn Street, seating one thousand people, 
which was dedicated December 10th, 1851. The cost of the whole 
property was about thirty -four thousand dollars, of v/hich an indebt- 
edness of twelve thousand five hundred dollars remained until 1863, 
when it was paid. When Dr. Rockwell entered upon his duties the 
congregation numbered only one hundred and twenty members, 
vi?hereas in 18G1 there were four hundred and sixty members. Dur- 
ing the same time nearly six hundred joined the church, three hun- 
dred of whom were admitted on profession of faith. 

When Mr. Talmage came, in 1869, but a small portion of this 
once large congregation remained. He has preached only one 
year, and the church is now crowded at every service beyond its 
utmost capacity. All the pews have been taken at a large increase 
of the rentals, and the pastor is paid the large salary of seven thou- 
sand dollars. Recently, the church edifice has been sold for a syna- 
gogue, and preparations are now making to erect a large temporary 
structure for the use of the congregation. The site selected is six 
lots on Schermerhorn Street. The church will be one hundred and 
fifty feet front b}^ one hundred feet deep, and it will seat three thou- 
sand people. It will be plain but substantial, and within is to be con- 
Btructed on the amphitheatre plan. The organ used in the Coliseum 
in Boston during the Musical Peace Jubilee of ISO!), one of the fin- 
est instruments ever made, has been purchased, and in the new 
church will be under the charge of the eminent organist, George ^V. 
Morgan. The building will be used for concerts and other appro- 
priate public purposes, and promises to be anotlier novel attraction 
of Brooklyn. Nearly two hundred persons have become membere 
during the last year. There are five or six hundred children in the 

578 



T.DEWITTTALMAGE 3 

regular Sunday-school, and a Missionary school in another part of 
the city is also well attended. 

Mr. Talniage has induced his congregation to consent that it 
shall be a. free church. He states that he is utterly opposed to the 
present system upon which most churches are conducted of high 
rents for the pews, and utter unconcern for the accommodation of 
those who cannot pay tliem. As a student of human nature, and 
as a believer in the influence of Christian teachings, he is confident 
that a church which is reaily free will thrive more abundantly on 
the voluntary offerings of God's people than by the method gener- 
ally adopted. He thinks that one system appeals to the baser na- 
ture, while the other will develop generous and Christian impulses. 
Hence, out of all the pews in the vast structure of the Central con- 
gregation, not one is to be sold or rented. The men of wealth, or 
in modest circumstances, and the poor, are all to have equal rights 
in pews, and the expenses of the church are to be borne by subscrip- 
tion, and the Sunday collections. Priority of application is to be 
the only rule regulating the selection, and a pew once taken can be 
held as long as the occupant desires it. This will be, in fact, an ex- 
periment of the free-pew system on the most extensive scale ever at- 
tempted, and we have no doubt it will meet with entire success. 

Mr. Talmage has lectured throughout the country with great suc- 
cess, having been everywhere received by crowded audiences. 
Among his lectures may be named "The New Life of the Nation," 
'• Grumblers," " Our New House," and " The Bright Side of 
Things." He is also a contributor to many of the periodicals. Ex- 
ceedingly agreeable sketches from his pen have appeared in the 
New York Weekly^ Hearth and Home, Hours at Home, and in 
the New York Ir> dependent. 

Mr. Talmage is above the medium height, and well proportioned. 
His frame is large, but he is naturally rather thin in flesh. His 
head is of the average size, with marked evidence of intellectual 
power. He has light eyes and a sandy complexion. Looking into 
his face, you are struck with its amiability and cheerfulness. In 

579 



4 T.DEWITTTALMA.GE. 

conversation it is always bright with animation, and at all times is 
a perfect mirror of his emotions. His eyes are clear, tender, and 
observing, while his tone and manners are gentle and warm in the 
extreme. An invariable self-reliance, and calmness, and judgment 
in all his proceedings give him dignity and self-possession, but in 
these particulars there is nothing alfected or studied about him. He 
is plain and unostentatious in hio appearance and bearing, and hence 
mingles freely with his fellow- -men. Ilis warmth in manners and 
his genial flow of conversation place even the stranger at once on 
the most agreeable terms with him. In truth, his conversational 
powers are little less than lascinating. He is full of noble senti- 
ments, poetry and humor. He looks at life with his "eyes and 
ears wide open," and he discusses both men and topics with com- 
prehensiveness and originality. He is never ashamed to show his 
feelings, and never afraid to declare his opinions. Independent, 
outspoken, and yet generous, tender, and sympathetic, he preseuts, 
in his own disposition, the most manly and at the same time 
the most beautiful traits that ever adorn human character. In 
social life he is all vivacity, all goodness and all himself. Wheth- 
er it be eccentricity, or whether it be simply a larger share of 
rich, exuberant animal spirits than most ministers possess, cer- 
tain it is that the Rev. T. De Witt Talmage is more real and true 
to a genuine human nature in social life than any of his contem- 
poraries. He seems to go down into his own heart for a gush- 
ing, abundant spring of fellow'ship and love, which w^ashes out chan- 
nels to every other heart. He follows no conventional rules, he is 
guided by no example, but, as we have stated, he is himself. This 
is not because he is indiiferent to the force of these rules and exam- 
ples, but because he acts from a quick, impulsive, and original na- 
ture of his own. When in the glee and enthusiasm of the moment 
at a church festival, he exclaimed that he felt "like the morning 
star." It was not that his taste induced him to take his illustration 
from negro minstrelsy, but, acting on the impulse of the moment, 
he humorously seized upon a popular saying to express the state of 

580 



T. DE WITT TALMAGE. 5 

his own feelings. Men of stiff propriety and of starched dignity 
would not do or say many things that he does every day. With 
him, however, a free, honest, cheerful heart is much more cultivat- 
ed, and it is given, impulsive and erratic as it often is, full influence 
and control over hh actions and sentiments. 

As a preacher, he has ev^en more striking peculiarities. He is an 
original, terse, bold, and elegant writer, and a fluent, impassioned 
speaker. He has the most complete command of language, which 
takes forms of expression which are not less new than graphic and 
impressive. His thought takes a wide range on every subject, and 
they are sudden in their changes from the solemn and sublime to 
the humorous and odd. At one time he will indulge in a strain of 
the most touching pathos, and then suddenly introduce some hu- 
morous and grotesque illustration that will almost set the audience 
in a roar. His language is chaste and beautiful in the expression 
of the more sentimental passages, and it is most pungent and over- 
whelming in criticism and denunciation. He has sarcasm, irony, 
and ridicule at his tongue's end, not less than words of exquisite 
poetic beauty and tenderness. All of this is ^o mingled together, 
and so altered in surprises, that his audience find themselves spell- 
bound by the novelty of style as well as the eloquence of the orator. 
His voice is powerful and flexible. He can in an instant change it 
from tones that ring out to tlie capacity of the largest building to 
accents that float in soft whispers to the ear. His gesticulation is 
somewhat marvellous. There is not a sentence that he has not 
some gesture of the hand, the arms, the head, or the body to illus- 
trate and enforce, and still it is all done with such appropriateness 
and gracefulness that it adds immensely to the cfiectiveness of his 
oratory. His face, too, has great mobility, and in the changing ex- 
pressions of eye, mouth, and brow, is a vivid accompaniment to his 
fervent words. 

Many persons find it difficult to form a favorable opinion in re- 
gard to Mr. Talmage's merits as a preacher. His style is so eccen- 
t'ic and original that some consider it mere sensational trash in 

581 



T. DE WITT TALMAGE. 



language and buffoonery in action. But this is a harsli and unjust 
judgment. To be sure, he puts language in unusual forms, and deals 
in the comic to a large degree ; but no [treacher of the daj can give 
a keener dissection of human motives, or make a more masterly and 
eloquent Christian appeal. A half-hour of his earnest, original dis- 
cussion will give you suggestions which will not leave you for many 
a day thereafter. As a man, he is somewhat of an oddity; but as 
a preacher, he is full of the spirit of God, and every talent and ev- 
ery purpose is devoted to the work for the regeneration of fallen 
man. If he makes you smile and weep in a breath, if he has sim- 
ple sayings and whimsical ways, he is also a ripe scholar, a clear- 
headed philosopher, and a Christian orator. He has qualifications 
which enable him to reach and control the great popular heart, and 
his ministry is consequently one of the most marked success. 

582 



HOK K M. BEOKWITH, 

COMMISSIONER-GENERAL FOR THE UNITED STATES AT THE INTER 
NATIONAL EXPOSITION AT PARIS, 18G7. 

Jl. N. M. BECK WITH is a native of Madison County, in 

^H the State of New York, and son of the* late Judge Beek- 
with, of that county, one of tlie eai-ly settlers of the town 
and village of Cazenovia. His eldest son, the late Dr. Beckwith, 
was educated in New England, and his third son, Brevet Brigadier- 
General E. G. Beckwith, graduated at West Point, served with 
distinction thi'ough the Mexican war, and the war of the Rebellion, 
and continues in the public service. 

The second son (the subject of the following remarks) was des- 
tined for mercantile pursuits, and, after completing his academic 
studies, commenced his career in j^uburn, New York. 

But having at that time no influential commercial connections, 
and being desirous of acquiring a more extended knowledge of 
business, he subsequently spent several years traveling and residing 
in different countries in Europe and also in America. The informa- 
tion thus acquired, and connections thus formed, were turned to ac- 
count finally in New York, where he engaged in commerce with 
the British Colonies, Europe, the West Indies, and South America. 

There was nothing unusual in the slow growth and steady pros- 
perity of his business, which at the end of fifteen years enabled him 
to retii-e. On the contrary, it is only another instance of the 
almost uniform success of the youug men who come from the 
cotintry with vigorous health and resolution, and who take pains 
to undei-stand their business, and pursue it with judgment and dili- 
gence, resisting the temptations of speculation, and declining opera- 
tions they do not thoroughl_y understand. 

mi 



2 HOX. X. M. BECKWITII. 

Ttetalning I'ondnuris for travel, Mr. Beckwith repaired with hh 
family to Europe in 1851, where he spent a number of years, prin- 
cipally in Germany and France, and was finally induced by his 
relatives, who had embarked extensively in business in the East, to 
enter again into active pursuits. 

But not to interrupt the studies of his sons, and v^dshing to have 
them witli him, he engaged teachers to accompany them, and after 
visiting Egypt and India, settled in China, where he became for 
several years the managing parrner of the ancient American house 
of Russell & Co., extensively engaged in commerce with America, 
Europe, and Australia, and in steam navigation on the seas and 
rivers of China. 

His previous good fortune did not desert him in this new field, 
and when the time arrived for his sons to enter upon their profes- 
sional studies in the industrial arts and sciences, he returned wish 
them to Europe, where he had the gratification of seeing them 
graduate in due time first and thii-d in the Ecole Imperiale Cen- 
trale, tlie great school for civil engineers in Paris. 

It will be remembered that the invitation of the French govera- 
ment to the government of the United States to participate in the 
International Exposition of 1867 reached Washington during the 
great campaign of Grant and Sherman, which occupied every 
mind, and rendered it iujpossible to attract public attention to the 
proposed exhibition. 

But the confidence felt in the result of tliose campaigns, and in 
the ai)proaching termination of the war, made it desirable to defer 
the question of the exhibition for future consideration. It was not 
unlikely that within six months the war would be ended, and as 
there would then remain a year and a half in which to prepare for 
the exhibition, it might still be possible for the United States to 
take part in it. The minister of the United States then in Paris 
articipated in this view, and, though without authority to make 
any definite engagements on the subject with the French govern- 
ment, wasextren)ely anxious to keep the matter open ; and thinking 

584 



HON. N. M. BECK WITH. 3 

tliG experience and business habits of !Mr, Beckwilh, his familiarity 
with previous exhibitions, and his knowledge of French methods 
and usages, and local acquaintance, would be serviceable, solicited 
his assistance. 

Mr. Beckwith was tlien ])reparing to return to the United States, 
and it was not convenient for him to make engagements extending 
over a period of at least two years; but thiidcing the matter of con- 
siderable importance, and believing that the governmtnt aud 
people of the United States would have a lively desire to co-operate 
in tlie exhibition after the haj^py termination of the war, showing 
that their energy and enterprise were undiminished, consented to 
undertake the labor, stipulating only that his services, being intended 
for the public beuelit, should be gratuitous. 

The delays which occurred in the action and decision of Cong-ress, 
and the embarrassments which arose from the consequent accumu- 
lation of business at the last moment, are very generally known. 
It is also known that these difificulties were surmounted ; that the 
})rodu(;ts of the United States were finally brought into fair com- 
parison with those of other countries ; that the verdicts and awards 
of the international juries placed the products of the United States 
in advance of similar products froin all other countries, with the 
exceptior of France, and that the assiduity, zeal, and great labor 
of tlie Commissioner-General contributed largely to these hap])y 
results. 

In acknowledgment of the ability displayed in the fulfillment of 
this mission, the Emperor Napoleon conferred upon Mr. Beck with 
the rank and cross of Officer of Legion of Honor. 

The labors of the commissioners resulted in the production of six 
volumes of reports on the exhibition, with numerous drawings and 
illustrations, which have been published by order of the Senate. 

The report of the Ilcjn. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, 
in presenting these volumes to Congress, forms the introductory 
chapter, and refers to the services of the Commissioner-General as 
follows ; 

585 



4 HOX. N. M. BECKWITH. 

"Accepting the onerous duties of tliat office, without compfinsation, Mr. Beckwith 
entered upon them with an activitj', zeal, intolhgence, and executive abihty to which, 
with tlie assistance of other conimissionerB, is uiaiiily due the measure of success that, 
notwithstanding unlooked-for and frequent impediments, was attained by the United 
States Section in tiie competition for awards and in the instruction and general benefits 
derived by tlie nation from the Exposition. 

" Under these circumstances I perlorm a pleasing dnty in placing on rccoi'd the 
grateful acknowledgments of this Department, and I venture to express a hope that 
Congress will siguity in some public manner its sense of services of a most responsible 
and arduous character, rendered not only without compensation, but involving many 
expenses incidental to the position which would not otherwise have been imposed upon 
Mr. Beckwith. 

" For an exposition of the nature of those duties and the manner in which they 
wore discharged, and for manv terse philosophical commentaries incident to them. I 
refer with pleasure to the appended extracts from the official correspondence of the 
Commissioner-G-eneral witli the Department. .... 

'• In order to present a comprehensive and connected view of the progress of the 
executive administration of the Exposiiion intrusted by the Department to the Com- 
missioner-General, as well as to show the dithculties and the nature and details of ihe 
labor required lor the proper conduct of a participation of the country in such great 
international displays, I present extended selections from the official correspondence of 
the Commissioner-General and others, which, while giving a historical epitome of the 
relation sustained b}' the United States to the whole Exposition, will serve as a general 
introduction to the valuable series of special reports by the United States Commis- 
sioners and scientific experts. Tliese reports constitute a valuable portion of the fruits 
of the participation in the Exposition by the United States, and present to the people 
of this country much useful and instructive information concerning the practical arts, 
and constitute a novel and profitable class of public documents, the tendency of which 
will be to expand and improve manufactures and arts, and increase the application of 
scientific principles and discoveries, which, so far as they cheispen the transformation of 
raw materials for the use of man. or improve their quality, increase the wealth of tho 
nation and lighten the burdens of taxation." 

Mr. Beckwith's distinomished success is due not more to his 
UTicoiKjuerable energy than to an nnflinching integrity manifested 
in all the relations of life. His word is proverbially as good as his 
bond. He has Avon fortune and position by persistent and steady 
effort. By patient industry and tlie pursuit of an honest, straight- 
forward course, he has battled with the disadvantages and checks 
of business men. Few men have overcome greater obstacles, none 
are more worthy of achieved success. 

586 





J 



SIDI^EY DILLOK. 



BY S. SEYMOUR. 




HE great industrial interests of our country have become 
so diversified in their character, and each particular in- 
terest is so capable of being sub-divided and organized 
into different branches and departments, each requiring at its head 
an order of talent dilicring in degree and character from tliat re- 
quired for the others, that a field of almost unlimited extent is always 
open for the exercise and development of every variety of genius 
and ability possessed by our " Men of Progress." 

Take as an example the great and almost controlling interest 
represented by the internal imin'ovements of our countrj^ some of 
which have been inaugurated and controlled by the General govern- 
ment, others by our State governments, others again by our Muni- 
cipalities, and others by private corjDorations or individual capital- 
ists. Here the civil engineer first enters the field for the pur- 
pose of ascertaining and reporting upon the practicability of the 
scheme, its probable cost, and the inducements offered by, or ad- 
vantages to be derived from its construction. The financier then 
either enlists or combines the necessary amount of capital ; and 
then the contractor undertakes the execution of the work, which 
in its turn, affords employment for almost all the varieties of me- 
chanical and common labor to be found in the country. 

The latter, or contracting branch of this great industry, has 
brought into exercise a species of talent, and a degree of skill, 
energy, and general ability which is not surpassed by this or any 
other of the great and diversified interests which now occupy the 
attention of our most active and enterprising business men. Very 
many of our most wealthy and prominent citizens have commenced 

587 



2 SIDNEY DILLON. 

their business experiences, either as common laborers, mechanics 
or contractors upon the canals and railroads of the country. 
It is to this class that Mr. Sidney Dillon belongs. 

Mr. Dillon's grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, 
and his father was a farmer in Montgomery county, New York. 
Sidney Dillon was born in the town of North am pton, Montgomery 
County, State of New York, on the Yth of May, 1812. 

The entire life of Mr. Dillon may be said to have been devoted 
to internal improvements. From an errand l)oy upon the first 
railroad that was constructed in his native State, to a contractor 
for the construction and equipment of the largest and most import- 
ant lines of railroads in the United States, he has passed through 
all the intermediate stages of experience, until he lias become one 
of the most, if not actually the most, experienced and best educated 
of the railroad men in the United States and perhaps in the world. 

In his early youth, Mr. Dillon was employed as errand boy on 
the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, extending from Albany to 
Schenectady. After that work v/as completed he was emjjloyed 
in the same capacity upon the Renssellaer and Saratoga Ra'lroad. 
lie was then employed by the firm of Jonathan Crane and Jolm 
T. Chirk, as foreman or overseer, upon a contract which they had 
taken at Sharon, on the Boston and Providence Railroad ; and he, 
together with a fev^^ other selected men were obliged to travel 
by wagon, carrying their own provisions with them, a distance of 
about two hundred and twenty miles, from Schenectady to Sharon, 
in order to commence the work. He remained upon this road 
about two years, until it was finished. He was then employed by 
the celebrated firm of Carmi(;hael, Fairbanks & Otis, as foreman 
and manager upon the Stonington Railroad, where he remained 
until the work was completed, after which he was employed by the 
same contractors to take char<>;e of some heavv rock work near 
Charlton, on the Western Railroad of Massachusetts. 

While engaged in the capacity of overseer upon the Western 
Railroad, his tact and judgment in the !iianagement of work 

588 



SIDNE Y DILLO\ . 3 

attrcicfced the attention of Cu])t. W". TI. Swift, the Engineer in 
cliariije, and lie invited liiin to attend the next letting upon the road 
and put in a proposition for work on his own acconnt, promising 
him that his bid would be considered as favorably as those of the 
best contractors on the line. 

Mr. Dillon attended the next letting as requested, bnt having 
only a limited amount of ca])ital, and feeling somewhat timid, put in 
a proposition for onl)- a single section, which was afterward 
allotted to him near Ilindsdale, upon the western end of the road 
between Washington and the State line of ISTew York. 

This was the commencement of Mr. Dillon's career as a con- 
tjuctor, — and liis prompt completion of that w^>rk in 1S40, and 
his subsequent success as a contractor upon a large scale, afford 
abundant evidence of the foresight evinced by Captain Swift in 
selecting him from the ranks, as it were, and placing him in a 
position where his skill in organizing labor, his sound judgment, 
and great energy of character could be exercised to much greater 
advantage for himself, as well as for the railroad companies upon 
whose works he was employed. 

After completing his work upon the Western Railrotid, he took a 
heavy contract upon the Troy and Schenectady Railroad, embracing 
the Clay hill about two miles from West Troy. Here he first used 
a steam excavator, which ho afterwards employed most success- 
fully on all his heavy jobs. 

At about this time the firm of Boody, Ross and Dillon took the 
contract for constructing the Hartford and Springfield Railroad, 
about twenty-six miles in length, for which they agreed to take a 
portion of their pay in the stock of the company. After complet- 
ing this contract, the same firm took a contract for six miles of the 
Cheshire Railroad of Vermont, and Mr. Dillon took a contract 
individually for four miles of the same road. He also at the 
same time contracted in his own name for about ten miles of 
heavy work on the Yermont and Massachusetts Railroad. Soon 
afterward the firm of Dillon and Pratt too^" a contract for about 

589 



4 SIDNEY DILLON. 

seven miles of tlie Rutland and Burlington Railroad, near Rut- 
land, Yermont. 

Having successfully completed all the above contracts, the firm 
of Boody, Ross and Dillon took a contract for constructing the 
Central Railroad of l^lew Jersey, from Whitehouse to Easton, a 
distance of twenty-nine miles : and agreed to take their entire pay 
in the stock and bonds of the railroad company ; although some of 
this work was very heavy, it v/as completed, by the aid of steam 
excavators, in two years. While engaged in this work the same 
firm took a contract for widening twenty miles of the Morris 
Canal, which Mr. Dillon attended to in person, completing it in 
the short space of three months. Mr. Dillon then took a con- 
tract for constructing the Boston and New York Central Railroad. 
But after completing thirty miles of the road, the company failed, 
and Mr. Dillon was obli«:ed to attach and sell the rolling stock of 
the road, just as a train was leaving Boston, in order to obtain a 
portion of his pay. 

Mr. Dillon and associates then took a contract for constructing 
a large portion of the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad, extending 
from Lock Haven westward about one hundred miles., of which 
contract Mr. Dillon was the general manager. Before its completion 
the railroad company became short of funds, and the work 
was afterwards finished by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. 

Then the firm of Dillon, Clyde and Chapman took a contract 
for filling up the high trestle work on the Erie and Cleveland Rail- 
road, near Gerard, Penn., which embraced about one million cubic 
yards of embankment. 

Mr. Dillon then returned to the Central Railroad of New Jersey, 
and took a contract for filling in the large trestle works which had 
originally been constructed upon that road, with solid masonry and 
embank'ments. He also constructed the South Branch of that 
railroad, extending front Somerville to Flemington, New Jersey, 
and also four or five miles of the Morris and Essex railroad 
near Washington. 

590 



SIDNEY DILLON. 5 

About tills time, 1865, Mr. Dillon became largely interested in 
the construction and management of tlie Union Pacific Railroad, 
of which company he is still an active and prominent director. 

During the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad, Mr. Dil- 
lon and associates also took contracts for constructing a double 
track npon the Morris and Essex Railroad, and also upon the 
Central Railroad of Ne'A^ Jersey, both of which are now completed, 
lie also became interested with Mr. John I. Blair, in one or two 
railroads in Iowa. 

In 1868, Mr. Dillon took a contract for constructing about seven- 
ty miles of the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad, extending from 
Waterbury, Conn., to Fishkill, Kew York. When this work was 
about two thirds completed, the company were obliged to suspend 
for want of funds, and the contract is still uncompleted. 

In 1869, Mr. Dillon and associates, took a contract for construct- 
ing about fifty miles of the New Orleans, Mobile and Chatanooga 
Railroad, which is now nearly finished. They are now also build- 
ing the Connecticut Valley Railroad, extending about forty miles, 
from Hartford to Long Island Sound. 

Mr. Dillon is also largely interested in the Chillicothe, Council 
Blufis and Omaha Railroad, the Canada Southern Railroad, extend- 
ing from Buffalo to the St. Clair river, two hundred and ei ^hty miles, 
and the Patterson Branch of the Morris and Essex Railroad, all ot 
which arc now in process of construction. 

To sum up Mr. Dillon's experience as a contractor, to the present 
time, we may therefore state, that he has been engaged on about 
thirty public works in different parts of the United States and 
Canadas, that the different works will make up an aggregate of 
at least two thousand five hundred miles in length, and that 
the different contracts in which he has been and is now in- 
terested, amount in the aggregate to about seventy-five million 
dollars. 

This simple statement of fiicts, it is believed, will fully sustain 
the original proposition, that Sidney Dillon now stands foremost 

591 



Q SIDNEY DILLON 

in rank as a Guccossfnl anil cxpsrisncad contraetoi' npon tlie public 
works of the United States, if not in the world. 

During the year 1867, Mr. Dillon filled the position of president 
of the Central Railway of New Jersey, of which he was then vice- 
president and is still director, during the absence of the president, 
Mr. Johnson, in Europe. 

From his first connection with the Union Pacific Railroad, until 
its final completion, in the spring of 1869. and indeed up to the 
present time, Mr. Dillon has devoted a large share of his time and 
energies to the affairs of that road. 

During its construction he was frequently upon the line, aiding 
by his extensive ex]3erience and sound judgment in the organiza- 
tion of the work. 

lie assisted in the ceremony of laying the last rail to connect 
with the Central Pacific, upon Promontory Point, a distance of 
nearly eleven hundred miles from Omaha — all which had been con- 
structed in the unprecedented short space of four years time ; and 
since then as a member of the executive committee, has spared no 
time nor means in aiding the company to place its affairs upon a 
sound and enduring basis. lie still retains the silver spike used 
in laying the last rail, as a memento of the completion of the 
Union Pacific Railroad. 

Mr. Dillon has an erect, commanding figure, considerably above 
the medium hight, and a countenance expressive of great firmness 
and decision. His prevailing characteristics have always been, 
unusual care and moderation in negotiating and entering into con- 
tracts and obligations, and great energy and perseverance in cariy- 
ing them out in goodfai'.h when once undertaken. lie has always 
maintained an unblemished reputation for honesty and fair dealing 
not only with corporations for whom he has done millions of work, 
but with sub-contractors, superintendents and laborers, upon v>'hom 
he has relied for the actual performance of this work. 

Mr. Dillon was married in 1841, and has two children living, 
both of whom are daughters. His residence is in the city of iNcw 

592 



SIDNEY DILLON. Y 

York ; and altliougli a veteran in liis profession, he is still in the 
prime of his life and usefulness, and will undoubtedly live many 
years to enjoy the fruits of his past labors, and perhaps to see many 
other important works of a national character grow up under his 
fostering guidance and care. 

38 593 




; EPenixe^T-fcrli 



/ir^/^^.^^ ^^ 



WILLIAM BEACH LAWEENCE, LL. D., 

OP RHODE ISLAND. 

BY CHARLES HEXRY HART, LL. B., 
Historiographer of the Nuuiismatic and Antiquarian Society- of Philadelphia. 

^t|PilOUGII Mr. Lawrence was, in very earlv manhood, lon» 
%"S-| enough tlie representative of the United States in London 
to obtain for his dispatches an honorable place in the 
diplomatic annals, and has satisfactorily exercised the functions 
of chief magistrate of his adopted State, it is not on his brief pub- 
lic career that his reputation is based. 

Ilis annotations on the law of nations, in connection witli the 
text of his friend Wheaton, are not only recognized as authorities 
tliroughout the civilized world, but have been translated into 
Chinese and Japanese, and adopted as the universal international 
code. 

William Beach Lawrence was born in the city of ISTew York, on 
the 23d of October, 1800, and though ever the advocate of the 
eq>ual rights of naturalized citizens, he is as purely American, by 
descent, as any one of European origin can be, not liaving in his 
veins a single drop of blood derived from an ancestor who emi- 
grated to this continent after the English conquest of New York. 

The Lawrence family came from England to the New Nether- 
lands, before the middle of the seventeenth century. They patented 
portions of what afterwards constituted the towns of Flushing, 
Hempstead, and Newtown, on Long Island. The original settlers, 
as well as their immediate descendants, held eminent positions 
under the Dutch and the early English colonial governments 
"llolgatc's American G-enealogy " (Albany, 1818, pp. 201-228), 

595 



2 , WILLIAM BEACH LAWRENCE. 

shows an uninterrupted series of intermarriages between the 
Lawrences and the Brinckerhoffs, and others, wliose names indicate 
their Dutch origin, covering tlie whole period wliich intervened 
between the emigration and the birth of the subject of this sketch. 
His maternal grandfather, the Reverend Doctor Beach,* for many 
years minister of Trinity Church, New York, was descended from 
the first white child born in Connecticut, and he intermarried 
•with a Dutch heiress, Ann Yan "Winkle, who held, under a patent 
to her ancestors from the government of the New Ketherlands, 
an estate near New Brunswick, now possessed by some of her 
descendants. 

Mr. Lawrence, having already passed two years at Queen's (now 
Rutgers) College, New Brunswick, entered Columbia College in his 
native city, at the age of fourteen, and was graduated with distin- 
guished honors, in 1818. On leaving college, he became a student 
in the office of William Slosson, then the most eminent com- 
mercial lawyer of New York. After some time spent there and at 
Litchfield, where, under Judges Reeves and Gould, was then the 
great law school of the country, he in 1821 visited Europe. He 
passed two years in England, France, and Italy, availing himself 
of a winter in Paris, as well to attend the course of lectures on 
Political Economy, by Say, as to frequent the school of law. He 
was thus enabled to combine, with his knowledge of the English 
common law, an acquaintance with the Roman civil law, as modi- 
fied in Continental Europe, — knowledge essential to a commentator 
on international law, especially in that branch of it which involves 
the coniparative legislation of states, and which forms the subject 
of his latest writings. 

In going abroad Mr. Lawrence enjoyed every advantage which 
an American could well possess, to facilitate his objects of intel- 
lectual and social improvement. When the Bank of the United 
States was incorporated at the close of the war of 1812, so far from 

* A biographical notice of Doctor Beach from tlie pen of his grandson will be found 
iu Sprague's "Annals of the American Pulpit," vol. V., page 255. 

596 



WILLIAM BEACH LxV WHENCE 3 

there being, as in the time of General Jackson and Mr, Biddle, an 
antagonism between it and the Federal administration, it was deemed 
entirely a national institntion, and the father of Mr. Lawrence was 
selected, as a consistent snpporter of the government, for the pres- 
idency of the branch at New York, then regarded as the highest 
distinction that conld be conferred on a retired merchant. Presi- 
dent Monroe, moreover, recognized in yonng Lawrence the son 
of one of the "Presidential Electors" at his recent election. He 
gave to him letters of introduction to his illnstrious predeces- 
sors, Jefferson and Madison ; and it may well be supposed that 
the lessons of political science derived from a visit to these sages 
were of inestimable value to a young American about to view 
institutions of government from a European standpoint. Mr. Mad- 
ison commended Mr. Lawrence most strongly to Mr. Rush, then 
our minister in London, and who had been a favorite member of 
his cabinet. From Mr. Jefferson he was the bearer of a letter of 
introduction to the Marquis de Lafayette, who, as a member of the 
Chamber of Deputies in the reign of Louis XYIIL, was then 
struggling, at no little personal hazard, for constitutional liberty. 
It was at a subsequent period, when on a visit at La Grange, that 
Mr. Lawrence was invited to be present at Lafayette's recital to 
Mr. Sparks of the circumstances which had induced him to embark 
in the American revolution, as well as of the interesting details 
(tonnected with his intercourse with General Washington, and the 
events of our Revolutionary War. 

President Monroe introduced Mr. Lawrence to Lord Holland, 
with whom and Lord Auckland, he had, in conjunction witli Mr. 
Pinkney, conducted the negotiations of 1806, which resulted in 
a treaty that failed to obtain the assent of President Jefferson, on 
account of the omission of any provision with regard to the im- 
pressment of our sailors. From the Secretary of State, John 
Quincy Adams, Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence received introductions to 
all our diplomatic representatives. Their opportunities for Euro- 
pean intercourse were further increased by the courtesy of M, 

697 



4 WILLIAM BEACH LAWRENCE 

Hjde de JSTeuville, then Frcncli miiiister at Wasliir.gton, to whom 
they had been well known during his exile. They also had intro- 
ductions from King Joseph to the Bonaparte family at Rome, 
including the Princess Borghese, whose salons were frequented by 
the most eminent society of Europe. 

On Mr. Lawrence's return from abroad, in 1823, he was admitted 
a counselor of the Supreme Court of ]^ew York ; but, though 
always an industrious student, his attention was especially given, 
to public and international law, to which he was particularly 
prompted by his intercourse M'ith Mr. Wheaton, with whom he 
then formed an intimate acquaintance, which resulted in a life-long 
friendship. That his attention in Europe was not confined to his 
special pursuit will appear from the address delivered in 1825 
before the New York Academy of Fine Arts, and which w^as 
commended in the J^orth AmeriGan Review and other periodicals 
of the day. In it will be found an appreciative notice of the 
ancient and modern schools of Art. 

Mr. Gallatin, who when minister in Paris had known the atten» 
tion which Mr, Lawrence gave to subjects fitting him for diplomatic 
employment, asked, on his own appointment, in 1826, to London, 
that he should be named secretary of the legation. The duties 
confided to that minister besides those of ordinary diplomatic repre- 
sentation, were of the most important character. The commercial 
intercourse between the United States and the British American 
provinces, including the "West Lidia trade, was then suspended, 
owing to what appeared to be irreconcilable conflicting pretensions. 
The general conunercial treaty was to be revised and the bound- 
aries between the United States and the British possessions were 
to be settled. Instructions wore also given, though without effect- 
ing any result, for adjusting those disputed points of international 
law, including the right of impressment, which had been preter- 
mitted in the Treaty of Ghent. How far the secretary was able 
to render efiicient aid in the course of the negotiations may be 
inferred from the assurance, given by Mr. Gallatin, in his final 

598 



WILLIAM BEACH LA WKEXGE. 5 

dispatch to the Secretary of State, of the entire competency of 
Mr. Lawrence to conduct alone the afftiu-s of the mission. 

Mr. Gallatin having returned home in 18i!T, the ratification 
of the severiil treaties concluded by him were exchanged by Mr. 
Lawrence, who had been appointed charge d'affaires by the Presi- 
dent, and to whom, as the plenipotentiary of the United States, 
was confided the selection of the arbiter to determine the boundary 
line on our northern and northeastern frontier. While that mat- 
ter was still undisposed of, difficulties aro33 as to convicting juris- 
diction in the disputed territory menacnng hostilities between the 
two countries, which led to an extended correspondence between 
the representative of the United States and Lords Dudley and 
Aberdeen. The nature of the title of the United States to all the 
territory embraced in the treaty of 1783, was discussed on our side 
with an ability which the journals of the day declared would, in 
any country where diplomacy was recognized as a regular avoca- 
tion, have secured for the writer of the notes a permanent career. 
The character of Mr. Lawrence's dispatches, which are to be found 
inserted at length ^in the state papers of the United States and 
Great Britain (Cong. Doc, 11. E., 20 Cong., 2 Ses., No 90, p. 76 ; 
Am. Ann. Reg., 1827-8-9, pp. 2, 80. British Foreign State Papers, 
1827-8, p. 584), may be inferred from the fact that, more than thirty 
years afterward, portions of them were transferred without altera- 
tion to Lawrence's Wheaton, (2d Annotated Ed. 1863, p. 37) and to 
his French Comjnentaire, (vol. L, p. 170). lie has, in those works, 
besides other matters, drawn largely from his dispatches in regard 
to the relations of the "Western powers and of Russia to the affairs 
of Turkey, and the establishment of the kingdom of Greece, which 
took place during his time. {Comme?iiaire, vol. L, p. 412). So sat- 
isfactorily were the duties of the English mission discharged by Mr. 
Lawrence, that he not only received from the President, Mr. Adams, 
and the Secretary of State, Mr. Clay, the highest commendations, 
but assurances were given to him, wdiich the change of administra- 
tion defeated, of an appointment to Berlin, where there had been 

599 



6 WILLIAM BEACH LAWRENCE. 

no minister since Mr. Adams himself, who was recalled in ISOl. 
This mission was not filled till Mr. Wheaton's transfer to it from 
Copenhagen, in 1S35. 

The works of Jeremy Bentham, whom Mr. Wheaton termed "the 
greatest legal reformer of modern times," show his appreciation of 
Mr. Lawrence (Ed. of Sir John Bowring, vol. XI., p. 36), who, more- 
over, besides his association with the diploniatic corps and the 
public men of England, was, during his residence in London, a 
member of the Political Economy Club to which McCuUoch, Sir 
John Bowring, the historian Grote, and others of like repute be- 
longed. He was also at that period a contributor to the Westmin- 
ster Review, and the notice of one of Fennimore Cooper's v/orks, 
written in England, is from his pen. 

On leaving London, at the close of 1828, Mr. Lawrence passed 
several months in Paris. He occupied his leisure, while there, in 
translating into English the history of the treaty of Louisiana by 
Marbois, who had been minister of France to the United States 
during our Revolution, and was the French plenipotentiarj' for con- 
cluding that negotiation. The translation \vas published in 1830. 
Mr. Lawrence's acquaintance with this veteran diplomatist, who, 
notwithstanding his advanced age, continued not only to occup^^ 
his seat in the Chamber of Peers, but to perform other important 
official duties, brought him into contact with many eminent men of 
the day. Among those who frequented the salons of the Marquis 
de Marbois, were Guizot, so M'ell-known as the minister of Louis 
Philippe, Villemain, and Cousin. These three hommes de lettres 
are specially mentioned ; inasmuch as their lectures at the Sor- 
bonne, which were attended by thousands, and of which Mr. 
Lawrence profited, afforded in the reign of Charles X. the only 
opportunities of giving utterance to patriotic aspirations. 

On his return home, the American Annual Register, to which 
President Adams was also a contributor, was availed of, by the 
subject of this sketch, to embody in the articles on different 
countries of Europe, which he furnislied for the volumes fro-n 1829 

600 



WILLIAM BEACH LAWRENCE. 7 

to 1834, the fruits of bis foreign observation. But a subject es- 
pecially cognate to his diplomatic studies was the prosecution of 
claims in which his familj^ were largely interested, under the treaty 
of indemnity made with France by Mr. E,ives in 1831. These 
claims for spoliations, principally under the Imperial Decrees of 
Napoleon, in violation of the law of nations, led to minute investi 
gations of the rights of belligerents and neutrals. His arguments, 
printed for the Commission, supph'ed valuable materials for his 
annotations on the " Elements of International Law." The ar^u- 
meut showing the exceptional character of the " Antwerp cases" 
was specially commended in those presented on the same subject 
by Mr. Sargeant and Mr. Webster. 

Shortly after Mr. Lawrence's return to New York, he delivered 
a course of lectures on Political Economy to the Senior Class of 
Columbia College, which, after having been repeated before tlie 
Mercantile Library Association, were published in 1832. These lec- 
tures were intended to demonstrate the Ricardian theory, and to sus- 
tain those doctrines of free trade of which he has ever been a con- 
sistent advocate. He also pronounced an anniversary discourse be- 
fore the New York Historical Society .in 1832, which was published 
under the expressive title of "The Origin and Nature of the Repre- 
sentative and Federative Institutions of the United States." Other 
papers of Mr. Lawrence's, who was vice-president of the society 
from 1836 to 1845, will be found in the printed proceedings of 
that respectable body. Several articles from his pen appeared at 
different times in various periodicals. Among those specially no- 
ticed in contemporaneous works, and reprinted separately, was 
one in 1831, entitled " Bank of the United States," which was 
originally published in the North Aiiurican Review. Another, 
"An Inquiry into the Causes of the Public Distress," was re- 
printed in 1831, from the American Quarterly Revieio ; and the 
" History of the Negotiations in Reference to the Eastern and 
North-eastern Boundaries of the United States," published in 1841, 
was prepared for the New York Review. 

001 



8 WILLIAM BEACH LAWRENCE. 

Mr. Lawrence resumed the practice of the law, on his return from 
the English mission, in connection with Mr. Hamilton Fish, the 
present Secretary of State of the United States. His argument be- 
fore the Court (»f Errors, in 1845, is an exhaustive examination of 
the law of " Charitable Uses" in its relation to religious societies. 
He was successful in reversing, by a vote of fourteen to three, the 
decision of the Chancellor, which had given to a small minority of 
a congregation the church property, on the ground of a deviation 
of the majority from the doctrines of the founders. (Miller vs. 
Gable, 4 Denio, 570.) 

Mr. Lawrence removed, in 1850, to his estate, known as Ochre 
Point, on the shore of the Atlantic, near Xewport, Rhode Island, 
where he already had had his summer residence for several years. 
Without any intimation to him he was, on the earliest occasion, 
nominated as lieutenant-governor on the Democratic ticket, which 
then, for the first time in a long period, was successful. Soon 
after his entrance into office, he becanie, under the provision of the 
constitution, governor of the State. While in the performance of 
the duties of chief magistrate, he visited the different jails, and in 
a report, subsequently made to the Senate, he pointed out the 
abuses to which imprisonment for debt, which Rhode Island was 
the last State of the Union to retain, had given rise. Through his 
instrumentality, an act for its abolition passed one liouse, but it was 
not till 1870 that the barbarous feature was removed from the 
statute book. 

During the period for which Mr. Lawrence was elected, great 
political principles were made subservient to the temporary excite- 
ment which pervaded New England for the passage of what was 
called the " Maine Liquor Law," which prohibited the sale of all 
exhilirating drinks. He was instrumental in defeating the passage 
of the bill by the Legislature, opposing to it the same constitutional 
objections for which the law subsequently passed was repudiated 
by Judge Curtis, in the Circuit Court of the United States. Ad- 
vantage was taken of the popular feeling on this subject to defeat 

602 



WILLIAM BEACH LAWRENCE. 9 

bj an act of gross political treachery, liis re-election on the State 
ticket. It was feared that the distinction which Mr. Lawrence had 
already acquired during his brief public career in the State might 
give him too much prominence and influence and thus interfere 
with the ambitions aspirations of others, especially in relation to 
the United States Senate, for which an election was then about to 
take place. 

Another cause for hostility to Mr. Lawrence, from those who 
wished to continue the State as a rotten borough, was his opposi- 
tion to the exceptional provision in the constitution of Rhode Ishmd, 
which discriminates between native and naturalized citizens, making 
a distinction which he ever contended was in violation of the pro- 
vision of the Constitution of the United States, conferring on Con- 
gress the power of naturalization. 

Mr. Wheaton having died in 1848, leaving his familj' in great 
destitution, Mr. Lawrence undertook for their benefit a publication 
of the " Elements of International Law." The first edition, anno- 
tated by him and preceded by a notice of the author, was published 
in 1855. This work, of which more than two thirds consisted of 
matter furnished by Mr. Lawrence, was at once adopted as a text- 
book by the English universities as well as by the government and 
the courts of that country. Of the first edition, five hundred copies 
were taken, under an act of Congress, for our ministers and consuls 
abroad. This edition was followed by another in 18G3, many of 
the annotations in which were rewritten, bringing down the state 
of the law to the latest period. To aid in the preparation of this 
work, every facility was afiforded by Mr. Marcy, General Cass, and 
Judge Black, successively Secretaries of State, who placed at Mr. 
Lawrence's disposition the archives of their department. 

It was on the appearance of the second edition that, at the 
request of Brockhaus, of Leipsic, who had published the " History 
of the Law of Nations " of Wheaton, as well as his " Elements 
of International Law," in French, that Mr. Lawrence undertook 
the preparation of a commentary in that language. The order of 

603 



10 WILLIAM BEACH LAWRENCE. 

Wlieaton's "Elements" is followed, but the work, of which two 
volumes have been publislied and which will extend to six or eight, 
is entirely original. The publication of a portion of the third 
volume, relating to private international law, has been anticipated 
by two successive articles in the Revue de Droit International , of 
Ghent, edited bv M. Rolin Jacquemyns. 

The decisions of the English courts, as well as our own, are re- 
plete with references to Lawrence's Wheaton, particularly in the 
cases to which our civil war gave rise. It is also the authority 
for questions of international law in the British Parliament 
and American Congress, as well as in diplomatic correspond- 
ence. Indeed, it may with truth be said that no book on kindred 
subjects has appeared in Europe, since the publication of Mr. 
Lawrence's treatises, which does not contain citations either from 
the American work or from the French Commenfaire. Edward 
Everett reviewing, in the Nortli American^ the first edition, declare~s 
that " Mr. Lawrence has discharged the office of editor and com- 
mentator with signal fidelity, intelligence, and success. He not 
only shows himself familiar with the subject as treated in the 
pages of his author, but also well acquainted with the entire litera- 
ture of the law of nations. Whatever is furnished by tlie English 
and Continental writers who liave succeeded Mr. Wheaton — by 
Phillimore, Wildman, Manning, Eeddie, and Poison ; by Ortolan, 
Hautefeuille, and Fcelix — is judiciously drawn upon by Mr. Law- 
rence. The diplomacy and legislation of our own and foreign 
countries are carefully examined and, in short, the work is made 
in his hands — we think it not too much to say — what its lamented 
author would have made it, luid he lived to the present time." 
{North American Ttevient^ January, 1856, p. 82.) 

As in the case of the editions in English, the entire money re- 
ceived from BrockhausAvas paid to the family of Mr. Wheaton, while 
the expenses of preparing the work, amounting to many thousands 
of dollars, were incurred exclusively l)y Mr. Lawrence. It must, 
therefore, have been with no little surprise that, while his wlwle 

604 



WILLIAM BEACH LAWRENCE. - H 

time was absorbed in the Co/nrnetitaire, he learned of the publi- 
cation of an edition of the "Elements," by a person who, having 
acquired some little reputation in early life as the author of a 
sea romance, then filled the office of United States District Attor- 
ney for Massachusetts. Though Mr. Dana declared in his preface, 
that " the notes of Mr. Lawrence do not form any part of this [his] 
edition," a judicial investigation has established that, with few ex- 
ceptions, the work is made up exclusivel}' from Mr. Lawrence's. 
No better vindication of the high character of Mr. Lawrence's an- 
notations could be afforded than is given in the opinion of the Cir- 
cuit Court of the United States for Massachusetts, in the case of 
Lawrence vs. Dana, which. is a leading case in the law of copy- 
right : " Such a comprehensive collection of authorities, explanations, 
and well-considered suggestions, is nowhere," said the presiding 
judge (Clifford), "in the judgment of the court, to be found in our 
language." 

" Allibone's Dictionary of British and American Authors" con- 
tains a list of Mr. Lawrence's writings anterior to 1856, but several 
important publications from his pen have since appeared. Among 
them was a work, under the title of "Visitation and Search in 
Time of Peace," induced by the revival in 1858, in the Gulf of 
Mexico, of the British pretensions to visit the merchant vessels of 
other nations, under pretext of suppressing the African slave 
trade. A pamphlet published in Paris in French, in 1860, under 
the title of " L'industrie frangaise et Vesclavage des negres aux 
Etats Unis^'' explained the connection which existed between the 
manufactures of Europe and the system of labor then prevalent 
in the United States. The volumes of the transactions- of the 
British Social Science Association, beginning with 1861, — as also 
the Loyidon Lmo Magazine. — contain numerous papers from Mr. 
Lawrence's pen on questions of international law. several of 
which, including the affair of the Trent, grew out of our civil war. 
In the latter periodical, as well as in the Bevue de Droit Inter- 
national, are elaborate studies by him, on the comparative Icgis- 

605 



12 WILLIAM BEACH LAWRENCE. 

lation of different couDtries, respecting tlje law of marriage and 
tlie rights of property of married women, wliich are particularly 
commended in the Revue hihUographiqve of the great work of 
Dalloz i^'' Jurisprudence g'eneraleP') 

In the interval between the two editions of " Lawrence's Whea- 
ton," Mr. Lawrence visited Europe making the personal acquain- 
tance of the great masters of the science of international law, 
several of whom had recognized the value of his annotations. 
The present judge of the High Court of Admiralty, Sir Kobert 
Phillimore, makes copious citations in his '' Commentaries upon 
International Law," from the first edition, as does Mr. Westlake 
in his " Private International Law." -The Queen's Advocate, Sir 
Travers Twiss, in the preface to his second volume of " The Law 
of Nations," says: "While the present volume has been passing 
through the press, the second annotated edition of 'Wheaton's 
Elements of International Law' has appeared from the pen of 
Mr. William Beach Lawrence, enriched with copious notes by its 
learned editor, bearing upon topics growing out of the pending hos- 
tilities on the American continent. Mr. Lawrence has discussed 
several of the leading questions which have arisen between the 
United States and Great Britain, with the moderation and impar- 
tiality which was to be expected from a publicist who unites the 
practical experience of a diplomatist with an enlarged theoretical 
knowledge of his subject." Ortolan, in his " jDijyIomatie de la 
7?i<?r," bears testimony equally strong to the value of Mr. Lawrence's 
annotations; while they are referred to in almost every page of 
the edition of "Kent's Commentary," annotated by Dr. Abdy, of 
the University of Cambridge, England. Professor Barnard, of the 
University of Oxford, in his latest book, "Neutrality of Great 
Britain during the American Civil War," recognizes as the high- 
est authorities on international law, the "Elements" and the 
" ComrnentaireP 

In a subsequent residence abroad, Mr. Lawrence not only re- 
vived old literary associations, but at the Social Science Congress, 



WILLIAM BEACH LAWRENCE. 13 

held at Bristol, England, in October, 1869, lie was received as an 
honored member, whose contributions had been long appreciated. 
At Berlin his recognition by Hefter and von Holtzendort' and their 
eminent confreres w^as equally satisfactory, while he was also fa- 
vored by a personal interview with Count Bismarck, when that 
eminent statesman, after expressing his appreciation of Mr. Law- 
rence's annotations, with which he declared himself well acquainted, 
said that he had madci frequent use of them in the preparation of 
his diplomatic notes. 

Mr. Lawrence's Commentaire was not only commended by the 
" Institute," but it introduced him to the notice of several of its 
most eminent members, among whom, besides Guizot, whom he 
had known fi om an early day, were Drouyn de Lhuys, so long Min- 
ister of Foreign Aflairs, the Minister President of the Council of 
State, M. de 'Parieu, Michel Chevalier, Charles Girand, Franck, 
Cauchy, and Laboulaye. 

An article in the Memorial Diplomatique^ from which we ex- 
tract tlie following passages, has the well-known signature of 
Pradier Fodere, the translator* and commentator of Grotius and 
the commentator of Yattel. 



" To follow the chain of events and to bring down the work of Wheaton, it was 
necessary that a man should be found intelligent and laborious, alike versed in the 
practice and theory of the law of nations. By the high political positions which he 
had occupied, and hj his personal aptitude for treatiiig questions of internatiouf 1 law, 
Mr. Wm. Beach Lawrence seemed suited for the accomplishment of this scientific mission. 
To a similarity of social position and pursuits, were moreover added the bonds of a 
strict friendship. The friend of Wheaton, Mr. Lawrence has continued the scientific 
enterprise of his competitor in the law of nations, and his colleague in diplomacy. 

" Mr. Lawrence has thoroughly stu lie:l coute.npiraneous history. Initiated by his 
political relations in all the public affairs of bis time, an indefatigable reader, and an 
attentive observer, he has put in requisition all these resources, in order to omit no 
historical detail that can throw any light upon the events of the last twenty years. 
He has consulted and examined the memoirs of all the statesmen of our epoch — he has 
read all the monographs, he has perused all the reviews, he has annotated all the dip- 
lomatic papers attentively, studied all the historical works, amassed treasures of erudi- 
tion, and contributed all this scientific booty to the completion of the less elaborated 
trealipes of Wheaton. 

"Mr. Lawrence is not only an enlightened commentator, but he is most worthy to 
continue the work of his illustrious friend, whose example he has followed in publish- 

607 



14 WILLIAM BEACH LAWRENCE. 

ing his book in the diplomatic langunge of Europe — that is to say, ia tlie Freut;h 
language. 

" The tirst vohmie contains what the author calls tlie historical part, and includes a 
rapid view of tlio principal events whicli have occurred in Europe since the Peace of 
Westphalia. Mr. Lawrence has traced in the second volume the dijjlomatic history 
of the cases of intervention since the Congress of Vienna in 1815. He has studied 
most of the historical facts in the official documents, which gives to this volume the 
character and merit of an actual course of contemporary history. The following vol- 
umes will treat of the subjects connected with private international law, questions 
relating to the equality of states, the rights of property, rights of legation, negotiations 
and treaties, and the respective rights and obligations of states in their hostile rela- 
tions. Tlie whole will form a complete treatise of diplomacy of the utmost value to 
statesmen, and to all who take any interest in international affairs." — Memorial Biplo. 
matique, 1869, p. 110. 

While in Europe Mr. Lawrence received from the university of 
his own State (Brown University) a diploma of the degree of 
Doctor of Laws, and in 1869 was chosen, in addition to many simi- 
lar recognitions of his literary standing, an honorary vice-president 
of the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia. It 
is in this last connection that a notice of his life may not inappro- 
priately fall within the functions of its historiographer. 

In the politics of his country, distinct from mere personal or 
partisan contests, Mr. Lawrence ever took a deep interest, and 
there are few importtmt points of constitutional law, which he has 
not discussed, as well in their appropriate places in his elaborate 
treatises, as in the daily journals and other periodicals. 

To the principles of the Democratic party, as he had learned 
them from Jefferson and Madison, he steadfastly adhered, and he was 
repeatedly a member of the national conventions of his party for 
the nomination of the President. In Bartlett's " Literature of the 
Rebellion," p. 228, is a list of several papers from the pen of Mr. 
Lawrence, having for their object to avert the fratricidal contest. 
He held that the Constitution could not be amended, much less 
abrogated, except in the form prescribed in the instrument itself, 
thereby excluding the right of secessicm as it also excludes the rev- 
olutionary reorganization of the States-. He ever fondly cherished 
the hope that by confining the Federal government to its appro- 
priate functions as defined by the Constitution, and leaving to the 

60S 



WILLIAM BEACH LAWRENCE. 15 

States tlie exclusive internal administration, our Union might be 
indefinitely extended. With many eminent European publicists, 
lie looked upon the settlement of conflicting differences that might 
arise under the Constitution, between States as in the case of indi- 
viduals, by judicial process, as the solution of the greatest of political 
problems. Nor was it till President Lincoln, in his inaugural 
address, denied to the Supreme Court any other power than 
that of determining matters of ordinary litigation between indi- 
viduals, that he realized tlie fact that no written constitution 
could be of any avail to avert civil war, or to maintain in 
their appropriate spheres the conflicting powers of our complex 
system. 

A firm believer in the autonomy of the States as dating from 
the first settlement of the country, he could not admit tliat a sys- 
tem which had survived our colonial dependence, and was wholly 
unaffected by the transition from the articles of confederation to 
the Constitution of 1789, could be jeoparded by the breaking out 
of insurrection or civil \var in any portion of the States, or by any 
other circumstance concerning the general government. He regarded 
the proposed convention of the 18tli of A])ril, 18G5, between General 
Sherman and General Johnston, the Confederate commander, which 
provided for the recognition of the status of the States as it existed 
before the war, as the onh' arrangement consistent with either con- 
stitutional or international law. The systems of reorganization 
subsequently attempted, whether that proposed by President 
Johnson, or those established by various acts of Congress, he con- 
sidered as alike unwarranted by the Federal Constitution, and revo- 
lutionary. Even if the State constitutions were abrogated by tlie 
M'ar, it was not for the President or the Federal legislature, he con- 
tended, to provide for new organic laws. Thnt right belonged ex- 
clusively to the whole people of the respective States, including as 
well the affranchised slaves, if they were to be deemed citizens, as 
those who had been engaged in the civil war, and who, on the 
principle of the law of nations, required no amnesty or pardon for 
39 609 



16 WILLIAM BEACH LAWRENCE. 

obeying a regular de facto government. {Commentaire , etc., vol. 
IL, p. 162.) 

Mr. Lawrence, after a recent absence of a couple of years in 
Europe, has returned to his library, wliich he has been accumu- 
lating for half a century, and which contains the best collections 
of works in his specialty, in German, Spanish, and Italian, as well 
as in English and French, to be found in any library, public or 
private, in this country. No other place can afford greater facili- 
ties for the completion of his great work. 

Mr. Lawrence was married, early in life, to a daughter of Archi- 
bald Gracie, an eminent merchant of New York. Mrs. Lawrence 
accompanied her husband to Europe during his first two visits 
there, and died in 1858, leaving several children, one of whom 
General Albert Gallatin Lawrence, forms the subject of anotlier 
notice in this work. 

610 



GENEEAL AL13EET GALLATIN LAWREISTOE. 




pilE subject of our sketch was born in New York City, on 
the 14th of April, 1835. His family is one of the oldest and 
best known among the citizens of the metropolis. His 
grandfather, Isaac Lawrence, having been President of the Branch 
Bank of the United States in New York during its entire existence ; 
and his father, the Hon. William Beach Lawrence, who is now liv- 
ing in Ehode Island, having filled a high position in the diplomatic 
service of the general government previous to presiding as Gover- 
nor of the State of Rhode Island. The earlier history of the family 
for many generations can be found in Holgate's " Genealogy of New 
York families." 

Before entering Harvard University in 1852, Mr. Lawrence was 
educated during three years in Germany and Switzerland. Gradu- 
i.,ting in 1856, he continued his studies, preparatory for the bar, and 
remained for two more years, at the Dane Law School, Cambridge, 
when having received the decree of LL. B., the young lawyer spent 
some twelve months in David Dudley Field^s office. Upon admis- 
sion as a member of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, a 
tour through Europe was considered advisable not only as a recrea- 
tion after much mental toil but for improvement — Mr. Lawrence's 
knowledge of foreign languages giving him great facilities to 
that end. Mr. I. Glancy Jones was at that time United States 
Minister at Vienna. Mr. Lawrence was attached to the Legation 
and consequently mingled more in society than is generally the case 
with foreigners in that most exclusive capital. 

Mr. Lincoln was elected, in 1860, President of the United States, 
and the nomination of Jefferson Davis showed that the country was 

611 



2 ALBERT GALLATIN LAWRKNCE- 

in danger. The same vessel bronglit the young diplomat and Col. 
John Bankhead Magruder from Europe. The one, educated bj \hi 
government, planning and scheming its destruction, the only excuse 
being the cant of State Kiglits. The other, not clear as to how the 
thing was to be done, but resolved that his possible both mentally, 
physically, and pecuniarily was to be pledged to the preservation of 
the Union. Captain Lawrence served on General Stahl's staff from 
September, 1862, to July, 1863, during which time the 11th Corps 
formed part of the Army of the Potomac. During the rest of the 
3'ear he was trying to organize a cavalry regiment in New York, 
but the riots arising on account of the draft having made recruiting 
distasteful to him, he returned to the army and was on duty with 
the rank of captain organizing and drilling colored troops. As 
soon as the forward movement under General Grant took place, 
he returned to his staff duties and was successively on the staffs 
of General W. H. Smith, at Cold Harbor, of General Martindale, 
at Petersburg, and of General Ames, in front of Richmond and 
finally at Fort Fisher. When on the 15th January, 1865, the 
second and successful attack was made on Fort Fisher, Captain 
Lawrence led the assault, and was wounded in four places while 
placing the flag on the ramparts. In what estimation he was held 
by his superior officers can best be seen from papers now on file in 
the State and War Departments. 

EXTRACTS. 

Hd. Qrs. 2 Div. 24 A. C, "Wilmington, N. C. 
Hon. E. M. Stanton, March 15, '65. 

Secretary of War. 
***** He lias been a member of my staff since July last and 
has displayed, in the various engagements in wliich we have taken part, great gallan- 
try, coolness, and judgment. So prominent have been these qualities that I have given him 
charge of commands greater than a regiment, in most important movements. In Oc- 
tober last when one of my brigades was to assault the enemy's position near Richmond, 
I sent him with it, having more confidence in him than in the brigade commander. 

At Fort Fisher he led the assault, with authority to direct in my name the movements 
of the leading regiments, and was the first to gain the Fort, where he was wounded. 

I have the honor to be, most respectfully, your obe't serv't, 

A. Ames, Bt. Major-Gen. 

612 



ALBERT GALLATIN LAWRENCE. 3 

"Washington, D. C, Dec. 10, 186T. 
Hon. William H. Seward. 

I respectfully recommend the foregoing application to the most favorable consider- 
ation of the Hon. Secretary of State. I first knew General Lawrence, then Captain 
Lawrence, as the most trusted and valued staff oEBcer of Major-General Ames, then com- 
manding a division of the 10th Army Corps, his reputation at that time for all soldierly 
qualities was of tlie highest. Subsequently my attention was more particularly 
called to him at the capture of Port Fisher, N. 0-, where he led the assault and was the 
lirstman to pass through the palisades and mount the parapet, upon which he fell severely 
wounded and mutilated for life. His brilliant courage and distinguished conduct on thin 
occasion was the admiration of the whole force under my command. A more gallant 
soldier I never knew. To his military qualities he adds a knowledge of French aud 
German, acquired during a residence of six years in Europe, and education, manner, 
habit, and character which fit him to represent the country near a foreign government 
not only with credit to himself but to the nation. 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obe't serv't, 

Alfred H. Terry, Bt. Major-Gen. U. S. A 

On the fourteenth of February following the attack, the Legis- 
lature of Khode Island passed the following resolution : — 

State of Rhode Island and Puotihemce Plantations. 
Resolution of thanks to certain Officers, from this State, in the Army and Navy of the 
United States. 
Whereas^ It is just and proper that due acknowledgment should be made to those 
who have periled their lives, and by special deeds of daring have contributed to the 
accomplisJiment of important results ; and 

Whereas, In the recent capture of Fort Fisher, at the entrance to Wilmington, in 
North Carolina, by the combined forces of the Army and Navy, one of the most impor- 
tant victories of the war, several officers belonging to Rhode Island rendered distin- 
guished services ; it is therefore 

Resolved, That the thanks of the General Assembly be, and they hereby are, pre- 
sented to Captain Albert Gallatin Lawrence, of the United States Army, who, foremost 
among the brave, gallantly fell, wounded, while in the act of planting his country's flag 
upon the ramparts of Fort Fisher. 

By the Governor, 

James T. Smith. 
John R. Bartle tt, (Seal.) 

Secretary of State. 

Among several other papers signed by Generals Grant, Sherman, 
Chief Justice Ciiase, and others, we find the following : — 

I am well acquainted with General Lawrence and fully concur in the language of 
General Terry — through education, manners, habits, and character he is fit to represent 
our country near a foreign government not only with credit to himself but to the na- 
tion. I will add that he is well versed in public and international law. 

Stephen I. Field, 
Associate Justice of the U. S. Supreme Couru 

613 



4 ALBERT GALLATIN LAWRENCE. 

Mr. Johnson shortly after bis accession to the Presiden ,-y had 
proclaimed that those who had done well in war ought to receive 
the rewards which the Executive had in its gift, Bt. Brigadier- 
General Lawrence was sent as Minister Resident near the Republic 
of Costa Rica, principally through the good offices of Senator Mor- 
.gan of New York, from whom as governor Lieutenant Lawrence 
bad received his first commission. 

During his residence in Costa Rica, he procured from that gov- 
ernment the acknowledgment of important franchises and rights 
in favor of the Central American Transit Company, and received in 
consequence the following grateful tribute : — 

Office of the Central American Transit Co., 

56 Exchange Place, New York, December 9, 1867. 

At a meeting of the Directors held this day it was unanimously resolved: — 

" That we hereby tender our especial thanks to our Minister Resident in the Repub- 
Hc of Costa Eica, the Honorable A. G. Lawrence, for the diplomatic ability and tact 
he has displayed in bringing about an agreement between that Government and the 
Company, by which we have been spontaneously appointed ' Conservator of tlie 
River San Juan ' on behalf of that Republic, with ample power to carry out all those 
works which we may think necessary or useful for the re-establishment or maintaining 
of the River San Juan and port of the same name. 

"Whereby a difBcult international question of conflicting riparian rights, between the 
republics of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, which threatened at one time to embarrass 
us in our operations to accomplish those objects, has been j\idiciously quieted and 
removed and this company have thereby required freedom to proceed with the above- 
named important works, in such manner as science and experience may point out and 
our engineers may recommend for our adoption. 

^^ Resolved, That the Secretary be instructed to forward a copy to Mr. Lawrence at 
Washington." 

A true copy from the minutes. 

A. J. Hamilton, 

Secretary. 

In consequence of great suffering caused by the unsuccessful 
amputation of bis arm the minister was obliged to return to 
the United States to undergo a second operation. Soon after 
his recovery, a member of the Prussian Legation made, at a 
dinner at the Prussian minister's at Washington, an arro- 
gant remark ; General Lawrence informed him that his con- 
duct was ungentlemanly and the result was a duel. After 

614 



ALBERT GALLATIN LAWRENCE. K 

receiving Lis adversary's fire, General Lawrence, tlie challenged 
party, fired in the air, Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, had 
just previously seceded from the Repul)lican party. The opportu- 
nity was too tempting to hira, to slight his old Republican col- 
leagues and at the same time to injure one who had. always shown 
himself consistent in his devotion to the Union and to the prin- 
ciples through which that Union had been preserved and sustained. 
A letter published l)y Mr. Seward in the papers, complaining that 
General Lawrence should have declined the challenge and should 
have been governed by the Army Regulations, — although palpably 
illogical and written for party purposes, — was followed by the 
minister's resignation. A request made at the same time of the 
Prussian government that their secretary and attache should 
be recalled, wa^ treated by that government with considerable 
hauteur^ and they were removed to higher posts. 

In 1865, General Lawrence was married to the youngest 
daugliter of the late General J. P. Taylor, Commissary General 
United States Army, brother of President Taylor, and now resides 
upon his estate near Newport, Rhode Island. 

ni5 



ABIA A. SELOVER. 

dy of the character and genius 
tive American never fails to offer much of pleasing in- 



^WM^^ HE study of the character and genius of the representa- 

^1^ terest and valuable instruction. It develops an originality 
of thought — a peculiar mastering of expedients and a boldness of 
execution Avhich have given the most wonderful results as the 
product of energy and enterprise. Indeed, it often suggests com- 
parisons which reflect severely upon other nationalicies so far as 
an appreciation of modern progress is concerned. The United 
States have accomplished in a few decades what centuries of effort 
in the Old Word have not excelled. Progress finds among our 
people its readiest, ablest, and most daring exponents. Whether 
this is attributable to the freedom and elasticity of our institutions, 
or to the influence of climate and surroundings, or each and all 
of these, we shall not presume to say. Certain it is we meet in 
every day Vile men whose careers would entitle them to distin- 
guished consideration in any country, and these men are multi- 
tudinous in the United States. 

The subject of our sketch is a worthy representative of that 
type ot American character — that progressive spirit which pro- 
motes public good in advancing individual prosperity, and for 
which our people are distinguished. 

Mr. Selover was born in Enfield, Tompkins County, N. Y., in 
1824. His father was at that time deputy sheriff of the county, 
'and was a most active and zealous member of the Masonic Fra- 
ternity, which connection, after the excitement and personal 
animosities engendered at the death of Morgan, induced his re- 
moval in 1835 with his family to New York city. In the year 
following, the family again moved to Cleveland, Ohio, at which 

617 



2 ABIA A. SELOVER. 

place young' Selover attended the High School until the fall of 
1838, when he was invited to study law in the office of General 
Lucius V. Bierce, of Akron, Ohio. There he remained two years 
busied with legal pursuits, and in 1840, having become wearied 
by the close application repuired in the prosecution of his studies, 
he abandoned the profession and engaged in mercantile business, 
which, however, was soon relinquished for the want of capital and 
experience. 

On the breaking out of the Mexican war in 1846, Mr. Selover, 
then twenty-two years of age, with characteristic promptness and 
commendable patriotism, joined the United States army, and was 
ordered to Point Isabel, Texas. After leaving the port of New 
York, however, and when about fifty miles at sea, the transport 
conveying troops collided with a steamer, and was so disabled 
that the commander was compelled to return, and had hardly 
reached a point off Fort Hamilton when the vessel sank. 

Mr. Selover was next ordered to join General Scott's array at 
Yera Cruz, and was attached to the staff of Major F. T. Lally, who 
commanded the expedition which left Yera Cruz to cut its way 
through to the City of Mexico. This expedition was twenty-one 
days reaching Jalapa, where it remained two months. At Hu- 
mantala a desperate fight took place, in which the gallant Walker 
fell mortally wounded by the side of Selover. After many hard- 
ships the command finally reached the City of Mexico ; and we 
next hear of Selover taking an active part in an expedition organ- 
ized under the leadership of Brigadier General Joseph Lane, and 
numbering in its ranks such daring spirits as Colonel Jack Hays 
of Texas notoriety. There were also in this command one hun- 
dred " Texan Rangers," making a total force of one hundred 
and eighty-two men. These left the City of Mexico with the 
avowed object of effecting the capture of General Santa Anna; 
and for this purpose they accomplished twenty-one successive 
night marches, with short intervals of rest during the day, until 
thej^ had penetrated the enemy's country a distance of two huu- 

618 



ABIA A. SELOVER. 3 

dred and fifty miles from the main army of tlie United States, 
It is affirmed that the famous Mexican chief escaped being made 
prisoner by flight from a farm house but a half hour prior to the 
arrival of this command. 

For the part Mr. Selover took in this arduous expedition, and 
for his military career generally, he was honorably mentioned in 
the official reports. 

The Mexican war over, he renounced his soldier life, and pro. 
ceeded to ISTew York, where he entered as salesman in the house 
of Jonas Conkling & Co. In this position he remained one year, 
and in March, ISiO, sailed for San Francisco, and enrolled him- 
self among the early pioneers of California. In the pursuit of his 
business he traveled all over the mining districts of the country, 
carrying upon his back the necessary and crude implements of a 
miner. Heturning to San Francisco, he joined the surveying 
corps of Wm. M. Eddy, city surveyor, and assisted in surveying 
and laying out the southern section of that city. 

Soon after this Mr. Selover identified himself with the Demo- 
cratic party, and took an active and promine^it part in the political 
issues of the day. He was a warm and constant friend of Senator 
Broderick, and was seated at the table with him when the quarrel 
arose that ended in the melancholy death of the Senator. 

Prospering in business enterprise, he was enabled to contribute 
materially to the growth of the young city of his adoption. He 
was elected a member of the first Common Council of San Fran- 
cisco, at which time the Mayor was John W. Geary, now Governor 
of Pennsylvania. In this connection Mr. Selover's executive and 
administrative ability were appreciated, and he exercised a con- 
trolling influence in both branches of the Council. He was ap- 
pointed chairman of the Committee of Health and Police, and 
during the memorable cholera season devoted his time, energies, 
and purse to the relief of the sufferers. 

Aided by two associates ha caused the erection of the first brick 
building of any magnitude in San Francisco, costing over $200,000. 

6113 



4 ABIA A. SELOVER. 

This edifice was destroyed by the fire of May, 1851, leaving 
Mr. Selover bankrupt; but before its embers were cold he en 
listed capital, and forthwith had workmen engaged in laying 
foundations for another building on the ruins of the old structure. 

He joined, in 1852, an expedition having for its object the cap- 
ture or conquest of the Sandwich Islands, King Kamehameha 
having vouchsafed his approval of the undertaking ; but this was 
frustrated by the combined agencies of British interference and 
the treachery of the Collector of the Port of San Francisco. 

At the commencement of President Pierce's administration, Mr. 
Selover, then in Washington, was oifered the appointment of Post- 
master of San Francisco ; but owing to the asperity of the political 
contest between Senators Weller and Gwynn he declined the ofier. 
Subsequently he was tendered any position on the Pacific coast 
he might choose, but he declined all political honors, and returned 
to San Francisco and established the house of Selover & Sinton, 
real estate, auction, and commission merchants. About this time 
he was appointed State and City auctioneer and notary public. 
His firm transacted the largest business in real estate of any house 
in the city, their sales amounting frequently to over a million 
of dollars in one operation. 

Mr. Selover remained in the firm until 1857. In 1856 he joined 
the Republican party, and became an earnest worker and zealous 
advocate in behalf of Republican doctrines. He associated him- 
self in 1858 with Fremont in the Mariposa estate, consisting of an 
area of seventy square miles. This property was sold in 1863 to 
a company in "Wall street for ten millions in stock and one and 
a half millions in bonds. On the forming of this company, Mr. 
Selover, with much shrewdness and fortunate foresight, Sold out 
his entire interest inthe concern. 

He has been for the past seven years a resident of New York, 
and has invested largely of his means in real estate on Manhattan 
Island. As a public spirited citizen, he has used his resources 
liberally. He is identified with various and important projects 

620 



ABIA A. SELOVER. 5 

and works of benevolence, wliich bespeak the wisdom of matured 
judgment and the promptings of a generous lieart. 

In tbis unvarnisbed recital of facts conrected witb tbe life 
story of Mr. Selover, we bave studiously avoided any attempt at 
wordy display. Tbere are, bowever, incidents and data in tbe 
record from wbicb we bave gatbered tbesc items wbicb, elaborated 
by fancy, would constitute a story not void of tbrilling adventure 
and romantic beroism. It is true tbat one migbt imagine from 
tbe diversity of pursuits and enterprises wbicb come in as con- 
necting links of Selover's bistory tbat bis genius at times savored 
of dangerous versatility. Profitless obstinacy in tbe pursuit of 
any calling is not characteristic of our people, who, with a won- 
derful faculty for adapting themselves to circumstances, readily 
renounce one business when exhausted to assume another more 
promising. So witb Mr. Selover, change with him meant a de- 
termination to do better. In whatever sphere be acted bis aim 
and object were ultimate success. Stimulated by bis ability to 
attain this end be has worked witb an energy and a stea' fastness 
of purpose that bave at last yielded their reward. 

Mr. Selover, as bis likeness indicates, is a man of great power 
and inherent life force, and is remarkable for tbe intensity of bis 
feelings, the quickness of bis perceptions, and comprehensiveness 
of hii ideas. He has a remarkable organization, both mental and 
physical, bis head being large and fully developed, especially in 
tbe intellectual regions, while his physical organization is com- 
pact and fibrous, and marked with every indication of power, 
endurance, und longevity. 

The intensity of his nervous organization, combined witb tbe 
force imparted by his phrenological developments, would be lir.ble 
to rcndsr the efforts of bis earlier life less satisfactory and com- 
plete than those of his maturer years. But tbe quickness of his 
percejttions, his ability to read and understand men, his practical 
talents and comprehensive intellect combined with the great strength 
and povv-cr of bis organization, insure for him marked success. 

621 




^i^^ 



HILAI^D R HULBUED. 




MOJ^G the men of " advanced ideas " in matters of 
>43^ finance, now more or less prominent in this country, may, 
with great propriety, be classed the present 'Comptroller 
of the Currency at Washington City, whose '* counterfeit present- 
ment " faces this page. Mr. Hulburd's theories and views are those 
rather of statesmanship than of hankiny — as they ought to be : 
which means simply that they are practical, more than technical ; 
comprehensive, and for the counti'y, rather than restricted, and for 
the stockholders. First the people, and the multiform business 
they have to carry on, and the safety, sufBciency, and mobility of 
the medium of exchange : then the banker, the proper security of 
his investment, and the liberal earnings of his skill and enterprise. 

Hiland R. Ilulburd was born in the town of Worthington, Frank- 
lin County, Ohio, on the 16th day of March, 1829. His father was 
the Rev. Hiland Hulburd, a minister of the Presbyterian Church, 
who was a native of Vermont, and educated at Middlebury College 
in that State. His mother was of "Welsh parentage, being a grand- 
daughter of the Rev. Howell R. Powell, well known in western 
New York, fifty years ago, as an eloquent preacher among the 
Welsh Presbyterians. 

Young Hulburd's childhood passed without particular incident, 
except that in consequence of failing health his father sought relief 
in change of location, which took him to the western part of the 
State of New York, where he remained but a few years, when, re- 
turning to the State of Ohio, and spending a year or two in the city 
of Cincinnati, he finally settled at Columbus, about the year 1840. 
Here it was that Hiland commenced the study of the classics, with 

623 



2 HILAXD R. HULBURD. 

the view of preparing liiraself for college, under the preceptorship 
of a Scotchman named Bonsall, a graduate of Edinburgh University 
— a peculiar and crptchetj mau, tliough a very thorougli classical 
scholar. With this gentleman he studied for two years, going 
through a rigid training after the old Scotch fashion. His prepara- 
tory studies were completed under the supervision of Mr. Myron 
Barrett, a graduate of Yale, and he entered the Sophomore class of 
the Western Reserve College, at Hudson, Ohio, in the autumn of 
the year 1845 : an institution the faculty of which were nearly all 
graduates of Yale, upon which college, indeed, it was modeled, 
Iiaving the same course of study, and the same general system of 
discipline. 

After entering college, Hulburd did not prove to be a severe stu- 
dent, though easily standing well in his class, and considered a good 
scholar. His tastes inclined to classical studies and hdles-lettre^-^ 
rather than to the severer discipline of mathematics and the exact 
sciences. Among his classmates were Charles W. Palmer, now a 
prominent lawyer of Cleveland, Ohio; M. C. Read, a member of 
the corps for the geological survey of that State; Hon. J. C. Lee, 
for several years, and now, Lieutenant-Governor of Ohio ; and Hon. 
J. S. Sawyer, a prominent member of the Minnesota Legislature. 
Mr. Hulburd graduated in 1848, and commenced the study of law 
under the direction of P. B. Wilcox, a distinguished lawyer of 
Columbus. 

In the spring of 1819, during the prevalence throughout the 
country of the California excitement, Mr. Hulburd availed himself 
of the opportunity offered him, to join a party of revenue officials, 
who were about to make the overland journey under the leadership 
of Colonel James Collier, of Steubenville, Ohio, who had been ap- 
pointed collector of customs at the port of San Francisco. This party 
assembled at Fort Leavenworth, on the Missouri River, the latter 
part of April, and in May started over the plains on the old 
Santa Fe and Chihuahua trail. "Roughing it "in camp was a 
novel experience to young Hulburd, but he soon got used to it, 

624 



HILAND R. HQLBURD. 3 

and no impressions of early life are more vividly fixed in his 
memory now. 

The party was composed of about thirty men of various ages and 
dispositions, and from different localities. Consequently, there were 
some discordant elements to harmonize, but they got along very 
well upon the whole, and reached Santa Fe early in July. Here 
they were detained several weeks, exchanging horses for mules, 
and wagons for a pack train. When refitted, they started on a 
new route, south westwardly, through what is noAv known as Ari- 
zona. Becoming entangled in the mountains, the party were beset 
by hostile Apaches, and had rather a rough time for several weeks, 
but bore themselves well, and finally came out in the valley of the 
Gila. Here a new trouble came upon them. Their mules began 
to give out, and soon nearly all the animals left them were required 
to carry their baggage and provisions. Under these circumstances 
the last part of the journej^ was made on foot ; and, weary, worn, 
and footsore, the little band marched into San Diego about the mid- 
dle of October, having been nearly six months on the way. 

After spending about a month at San Diego, Mr. Hulburd sailed 
up the coast in an English coal ship, and arrived at San Francisco 
in the last day of November, 1849. At that time the city was built 
principally of canvas — the streets were not graded — and the rainy 
season had fairly opened. Crowds of adventurers from all quar- 
ters of the globe were assembled there, and every thing was l)ustle, 
confusion, and mud. Finding in the sheriff an old acquaintance, 
Mr. Hulburd was appointed a special deputy, and in this capacity 
was employed until the spring opened, when he fell in with the liv- 
ino" current that was constaiitly flowing toward the mines. Here 
he went to work with pick and spade, delving for gold, in which 
pursuit he was reasonably successful. 

Returning to San Francisco in the fall, Mr. Hulburd entered the 
office of Rushworth & Co., custom-house brokers, where he worked 
imtil the spring of 1851. Then the firm with which he was associ- 
ated having dissolved, he opened an ofiice in the same business on 
40 G25 



4 HILAND R. nULBUllD. 

his own account, and did well, though burned out two or three 
times, and losing something on each occasion. Finally the custom- 
house itself was burned out, and re established in a warehouse at 
the end of a long wharf at the foot of California Street. In this 
part of the city there was no building suitable for a broker's office ; 
but Mr. Hulburd was equal to the emergency, and buying the 
pilot-house from the deck of a steamboat that was undergoing repairs, 
he placed it on the wharf near the door of the new Custom House, 
and " hung out his shingle " within twenty-four hours after the 
occurrence of the fire ! 

In December, 1851, at the earnest solicitation of his family, Mr. 
Hulburd gave up business in San Francisco, and returned to the 
States by the way of Panama, Havana, and JSevv Orleans, reaching 
home in January, 1852, after an absence of nearly three years. 
Without losing time he resumed the study of law in the ofiice of A. 
H. Dunlevy, at Lebanon, Warren County, Ohio — at the same time 
performing the duties of Clerk of the Probate Court. Having in 
time been admitted to practice, he returned to Columbus, and in 
October, 1853, was married to the youngest daughter of the Hon. 
Moses B. Cor win, then a member of Congress from the Seventh 
District of Ohio. Unwilling to serve the tedious probation through 
which all young lawyers have to pass, Mr. Hulburd now promptly 
engaged in active business, in which he continued through the next 
two or three years. It was at this time that he acquired that prac- 
tical knowledge of banking, as it M-as carried on at the West, which 
has since been useful to him in more ways than one. 

The Republican party of Ohio — which was formed mainly by the 
fusion of the Liberty party and the Know-Nothings — having car- 
tied the election for the State officers in 1856, Mr. Hulburd, who 
had been one of the earliest of the Republicans, was oflTered and 
accepted the position of Register of Banks in the ofiice of the Audi- 
tor of State, In this capacity, he had charge of the securities, un- 
signed notes, and reports of the Stock Banks of the State, until 
July, 1858, at which time he became Secretary of the Board of 

626 



HILAND R. HULBURD. 5 

Fund Commissioners of Oliio. Here he had charge of the sinking 
fund accounts, and of all transfers and issues, of State stocks, and 
generally of all business pertaining to the public debt of the State. 
This position he held until the summer of 1861, when he relin- 
quished it for the purpose of devoting himself to a thorough and 
comprehensive reviev? of his legal studies. This accomplished, he 
in the summer of the next year removed to Chicago, with the 
design of entering upon the practice of the law there. Finding, 
however, after an experience of one winter and part of another, that 
the climate was too severe for him, he was compelled to seek a 
milder temperature, and by the advice of his physician removed to 
Washington City about the first of January, 1864. 

The National Banking System was at this time just being inau- 
gurated, and Mr. Chase, then Secretary of the Treasury, knowing 
tlie qualifications and experience of Mr. Ilulburd, appointed him a 
clerk in the National Currency Bureau, of which the Hon. Hugh 
McCulloch was the head. Mr. Hulburd's career in "Washington is 
well known. All his previous studies and experience combined to 
fit him in a peculiar manner for the performance of the duties re- 
quired in his new position ; and he passed rapidly through all grades 
of clerkship until he became Deputy Comptroller of the Currency, 
August 1, 1865. In this last-named capacity he served until July, 
1866, when, by the resignation of the Hon. Freeman Clarke, he 
became Acting Comptroller, the office of Comptroller remaining 
in suspense for several months. President Johnson, having departed 
from the policy of the Republican party, was seeking to extend 
his influence and to build up a party of his own ; and it se&med cer- 
tain that he would appoint some political friend or partisan to the 
vacant comptrollership. The Secretary of the Treasury, however, 
who was a warm personal friend of Mr. Hulburd's, insisted that the 
appointment should not be made a political one ; and the Presi- 
dent, after much hesitation, conferred the place upon Mr. Hulburd, 
knowing this gentleman to be a pronounced, radical Republican, 
and receiving from him no pledge or promise of support. The act, 

627 



Q HILANDR. HULBURD. 

highly complimentary to Mr. Hulburd, may be remembered to the 
President's honor, although, in addition to the influence of the Sec- 
retary, it required a strong outside pressure. Financial men 
throughout the country had fixed their minds upon Mr. Hulburd 
as tlie new Comptroller, and when they saw that the Secretary of 
the Treasury needed " backing," they gave it " with a will " from 
all sections. Mr. Hulburd was promptly confirmed by the Senate, 
and taking the oath of office entered upon the discharge of his du- 
ties on the 6th of February, 18GT. 

Mr. Hulburd's administration of the affairs of the office of the 
Comptroller of the Currency, is recognized by bankers and other 
financiers throughout the country for its ability and wisdom. Its 
fairness is not less a distinguishing feature. And for the general 
intelligence, in respect to all matters of banking and finance, which 
lies at its basis and pervades it throughout, no other evidence need 
be sought than that which is afforded by his Annual Reports for the 
years 1867, '68, and '69. The first of these documents, in particu- 
lar, may be referred to as a masterly exposition of leading princi- 
ples involved, and as a storehouse of wisdom, drawn from sources 
universally recognized to be among the best, upon the minor 
themes as well as the general subject to which it relates. The pj^ac- 
tical character of these reports is also one of their commendable 
features; and for an indication of the respect in which the Comp- 
troller's opinions are held, it is only necessary to examine them and 
see how often their suggestions have been adopted by Congress, and 
received from that body the force of law. 

Mr. Bkilburd evidently looks upon the N^ational Banks as institu- 
tions peculiarly designed for the benefit of the great masses of the 
people. In the official supervision which he exercises over them, 
therefore, it is evident that he never loses sight of the important 
facts of their connection with and influence upon the general busi- 
oiess of the country. And whiie tolerant of much that is crude in 
finance, and of something that is irregular in banking, the relation of 
the system to the necessities of that business, as these necessities 

628 



HILAND R. HULBURD. 7 

arise from season to season and from year to year, demands and rcr 
ceives his constant care. 

Yet no one will say that, while watching with jealous eye the 
interests of the people, as affected by a sound currency and a ju- 
dicious supply of it, he fails to do justice to the banker, and to 
render his investments safe, and the reward of his enterprise and 
industry satisfactory and sure. 

629 



AAEON J. ya:ndeepoel. 




'0 one can Lave been a reader of the New York journals 
without becoming very familiar witb the name of this 
gentleman ; because he has been for a great many years 
connected witli nearly all the eminent commercial suits that have 
been litigated in the metropolis. He is known to be a thorough 
lawyer; and, indeed, it has been humorously said of him that his 
bed was made of calfskin. He believes in the famous aphorism that 
" the law is a jealous mistress." He is, therefore, nothing of a poet ; 
knows as little of music as did Lord Eldon ; and has probably never 
read fifty novels in his lite. As is commonlj'^ the case with men who 
have little imagination or fancy, he has a very sound judgment. 

He is of a legal family. His uncle, Aaron Vanderpoel, lately 
deceased, after whom he is named, was one of the most eminent 
lawyers in New York, and was for several years associate justice of 
the Superior Court of that city. Another uncle, James Vanderpoel 
(whose daugliter was married to the late John Van Buren), was 
also, for a great many years, a circuit judge of the Supreme Court 
of the State of New York, resident at Albany. Mr. Vanderpoers 
father, however, was an eminent physician of Kinderhook, Columbia 
County. His brother, Dr. Samuel O. Vanderpoel, who lives in 
Albany, and is now president of the State Medical Society, is the 
Willard Parker of the capital of the State. 

Mr, Vanderpoel was born at Kinderhook, in the year 1825. He 
was preliminarily educated at the celebrated Kinderhook Academy, 
from which so many public men have graduated. He received his 
degrees from the New York University in 1843. His law studies 
were in part followed in the offices of Messrs. Tobey and Eeynolds, 

631 



2 AARON YANDERPOEL. 

in Kinderliook, but maiiilj in the office of the late William Curtis 
Nojes, whose name is justly celebrated in the annals of New York 
jurisprudence, and whose place Mr. Yanderpoel may be said, in a 
great degree, to have taken at the bar upon the decease of liis pre- 
ceptor. Yerj soon after his admission to the bar, and about the 
year 1852, the well-known firm of Brown, Hall & Yanderpoel was 
founded ; the Mr. Hall of that firm being the present Mayor of New 
York City, and still actively connected with it. This firm was re- 
cently playfully termed in the New York Herald, " the historic firm 
of the metropolis.*' It has been standing counsel for the sheriif of 
New York City and County for nearly twenty years ; also for the 
Police and the Health Departments, and a variety of municipal bu- 
reaus, and has been coiicerned on one side or the other of all the 
great railroad litigations which have been before the courts of that 
city during the past ten years. Mr. Yanderpoel is pleasant- faced, 
of medium height, very quick, wiry, and agile in his movements, 
although of late years somewhat inclined to corpulency. He has a 
very strikingly-defined and intellectual face, while of unmistak- 
able Knickerbocker cut in feature, lie ia of Holland descent, and 
his ancestors were among the early Dutchmen of the province, as 
his name indicates. It was originally spelled Yon-Der-Poel, literally 
signifying, of the pool, or brook. lie is a marvel of industry, and 
perfectly untiring in the pursuit of his profession ; active in the Fed- 
eral and in all the State courts, as well as in his oflice by day, and 
in his library late into the night. His library, like that of Mr- 
Charles O'Conor, and of Mr. Elbridge T. Gerry, is famous in the 
profession for its extent and careful selection. 

Mr. Yanderpoel's excellencies are, besides industry and devotion 
to his profession, unvarying accuracy in pleading, and a crisp clear- 
ness of statement, though he can not be regarded as an elegant 
speaker. His mind is not only imbued with the principles of law, 
but it is also an encyclopedia of leading cases. He is very popular 
with the bench and the profession because of these characteristics. 
His cases of the smallest importance are prepared with as great care 

632 



AARONYANDERPOEL. 3 

as if they were of greater magnitude, for he riglitlj believes that 
every case is of equal importance to the particular client who is in- 
terested in it, and that if the interest of that client is of sufficient 
importance to go to law about, it is of sufficient importance entirely 
to exhaust.. He is highly successful in cross-examination, being not 
only logical but philosophical also. A journalist who listened to 
Mr. Yanderpoel's argument in a recent railroad case published of 
it : " Members of the profession were attracted by his plain, 
straightforward, well-condensed language ; not a point was omitted, 
and scarcely an unnecessary word was used in his whole summing 
up. Ilis argument was a strong one, and evinced great familiarity 
with cases where heavy corporate interests were involved." 

Personally Mr. Yanderpoel is a great favorite with all his ac- 
quaintances. Though an ardent and active lawyer, pushing every 
thing under his charge with vigor, there is a courteousness of mau- 
iier, a fairness of dealing, and a frankness of language in all his 
professional endeavors, that does not fail to make even his oppo- 
nents yield him a large share of admiration and respect. He is a 
man of large heart and warm sympathies, true to his friends and 
o-enerous to his foes. 

o 

Mr. Yanderpoel has never found time to dabble either in litera- 
ture or in politics — those two tempters from the profession which, 
as we have before said, is so jealous a mistress. 

Mr. Yanderpoel married the daughter of Henry C. Yan Schaack, 
also an eminent lawyer of central New York, and a descendant of 
a celebrated lawyer of the province, himself eminent for historical 
researches. Although wedded to his profession, he is, so far as he 
dares to be with regard to that profession, much valued in New 
York society. He resides in a large mansion in West Sixteenth 
Street, near the Fifth Avenue, and has a charming country estate 
in his native place of Kinderhook. It has seldom fallen to the lot 
of a man forty-four years of age to have attained so high a position 
at the bar; but, high as it is, his friends predict for him still 
higher honors. 

633 




■^^lyAHJ^oau-^ 



AUGUSTUS G. HAZARD. 




HE subject of tliis sketch holds high rank in that class who 
by a natural force of character, and a genius fitted for en- 
counter with obstacles, have risen to fortune and distinc- 
tion. He has been widely known as the head of a manufacturing 
and commercial company, without a superior of its kind in this 
country, which has been raised to its present position by his indi- 
vidual enterprise and foresight. But this is not all. He lias been 
as generally known and respected for his large endowments of 
mind and heart, and for a certain high and chivalric tone main- 
tained through life which won for him recognition as one of the 
models of honor among merchants. 

Augustus George Hazard was born in Kingston, Rhode Island, 
April 28, 1802. His father, Thomas S. Hazard, was a sea-captain, 
the memory of whose bold and manly character is still treasured 
on the south shore of that State ; and his mothei', Silence Hazard, 
is remembered for strong and generous qualities, which marked 
her among women and reappeared in her youngest and last sur- 
viving of eight children. Nowhere more appreciably than in New 
England does biography illustrate the continuance and descent of 
physical and moral characteristics from one generation to another. 

The better parts of the Puritans of Hartford, Providence, and 
New Loudon survive in the race of our own time ; and the family 
whose name is here recorded is not an exception to this remark. 
In the State of Rhode Island, especially, has this family name be- 
come one of felicitous honor. Among the near kinsmen of Colonel 
Hazard, was Oliver Hazaid Perry, whose martial gallantry has be- 
come a part of the national renown. Of his other nearest of kin 

«35 



2 AUGUST CJti a. HAZARD. 

are the present families of Hazard, held among the most reputable 
in that commonwealth affluent in men ; of one of whom, Eowland 
G. Hazard, of South Kingston, special mention may be pardoned, 
as not less distinguished as a publicist and logician than as a man 
of power in practical affairs, the chosen friend of the late William 
Ellerj Channing. 

The lather of Colonel Hazard removed with his family in 1808 
to Columbia, Connecticut, and the son remained there with the 
family upon the farm until he reached the age of fifteen. But the 
impulse of youth and adventure moved him to larger scenes of 
active life. Conscious of possessing a taste and skill for the useful 
arts, he engaged and continued in the occupation of a painter until 
his eighteenth year. At that time, in the year 1818, he made the 
first adventure from home, at his own risk and account. Without 
favor or special friendship, he sailed for Savannah, Georgia, in one 
of the light packets of that period, paying the fare and " finding 
himself" on the passage from previous earnings saved. His was 
one of the early examples, since become more common, of the poor 
and rising boys of iSTew England, bound to try and bound to suc- 
ceed in the conquest of fortune. For two years he was prosper- 
ous in the occupation which he took from Connecticut, and of 
which he was not ashamed in later and better days. So well did 
he bear himself as quickly to gather about him the universal respect 
of a large and increasing circle of friends in his new home. Two 
years later, revisiting 'New England, he married Miss Merrill, of 
West Hartford, who survives him, not less kindly esteemed in all 
the circles of benevolence than in that of her own family. 

Returning to Savannah, then only on the threshold of business life, 
and taking the next step upward, he made the change, commonly 
one full of uncertainty, from the career of a mechanic to the career 
of a merchant. He bought out one of the commercial houses of 
Savannah, dealers in paints, oils, and other merchandise, then the 
largest establishment of the kind in the State of Georgia. This 
business he pursued with great success for ten years. It was during 

636 



AUGUSTUS G. HAZARD. 3 

this term of residence at Savannah that Colonel Hazard developed 
those qualities of the true American merchant which have given 
him a high place among that class of our countrymen ; a class 
which is not surpassed by a corresponding one in any country on 
the globe ; and it was then that he familiarized his mind with the 
code of commercial law and honor, the practice of which made for 
him there life-long friends, and subsequently sustained him amid 
the revulsions which were to come upon him as upon others. Dur- 
ing the same period, comprising the most educating time of a 
man's life, the stage between twenty and thirty years of age, he 
cultivated the social talents and virtues which continued to ripen 
and mellow in rich fruit in after time. In the commercial metropo- 
lis of Georgia, through its beautiful squares and hospitable homes, 
there was at that time a prevailing tone of commercial honor, of 
social chivalry, elegance, and refinement, which was not more attrac- 
tive than it was elevating. In all this he bore a prominent share, 
for which by his personal endowments he w^as signally fitted, and 
for which he is there even now recollected. In after years, while 
residing in his hospitable mansion, on the banks of the Connecticut, 
this early association with men who became prominent in public 
fame opened to him and to tliem the opportunities for frequent 
renewal of the acquaintance and delight of the past. But in the 
influences of an enticing commercial and social life at the South, 
he did not neglect those principles of republican equality and 
Christian humanity which have marked him as the sympathizing 
friend of men in every condition. The dignity and honor of labor 
he learned in the school of experience ; the dignity and honor of 
manhood, whether in high or humble estate, he at all times sacredly 
reverenced. Wliile engaged in the pursuit of commerce at Savan- 
nah, in accordance with convenience as well as the custom of the 
place, he became a slave-owner ; but he soon became an emancipator, 
adding to freedom the assistance to support through life. A like 
temper and disposition pervaded all his relations with those who 
became employed under him ; and after he had brought his great 

637 



4 AUGUSTUS G. HAZARD. 

works in Connecticut to prosperity and success, it was remarked 
by neighbors that he never seemed happier than when presiding 
over his workmen, on a holiday, at a table provided by his own 
bounty of free wilL With him the success of labor found one of 
its keenest enjoyments in honoring labor. 

In 1827 Colonel Hazard, at the age of twenty-five, sought a larger 
field for fortune under Providence. He removed to 'New York, 
and there laid the establishment of a commission house ; became, by 
agency and proprietorship, connected with the line of packets 
sailing between that city and Savannah, a large receiver of Southern 
produce, and the resident purchaser for his own and other commer- 
cial houses at the South. Having been successfully engaged in 
this large and profitable commerce, he was overtaken with others 
by the unprecedented financial crash of 1837. The successes of 
previous years were partially swept away in the loss of credits 
which had been given, unpaid reclamations against consignments 
upon which he had accepted, and which had now greatly declined, 
and other mercantile losses. He was also extensively engaged iii 
the importation of European merchandise, having an open credit 
with the house, eminent at that time, of George Wildes & Co., of 
London. To them he owed a large amount, every dollar of which 
had been by him remitted to them in bills of exchange, purchased 
and paid for, all of which were returned to him, protested for non- 
payment. At this juncture Mr. George Wildes, the head of the 
English house, came to New York, called upon his debtors, and 
proposed to receive in full settlement fifty per cent, of their in- 
debtedness. The conduct of Colonel Hazard in this instance is 
specially reported to the writer by one who was a witness of the 
occurrence. His answer to Mr. Wildes was, that, fully aware of 
the severity of the time, he was taking the best possible care of 
both sides of his bill-book ; but that, far from being willing to 
accept a compromise of his liabilities, he desired and intended 
to pay them in full, and that, continuing to pay out to the 
last dollar in his possession, he should make gO(xl any deficit 

638 



AUGUSTUS G. HAZARD. 5 

from future exertions. " It is extension," said lie, " not com- 
promise." 

" Sir," said Colonel Hazard to Mr. Wildes, " I owe you this debt, 
with twenty-two per cent, exchange, ten per cent, damages upon 
the bills returned, and seven per cent, interest ; 1 shall pay the 
whole ; I must have extension ; I accept no compromise ; I give no 
security at the expense or risk of other creditors." This was easily 
arranged with the New York agent of the London house, Mr. 
Pickersgill, who was thoroughly conversant with the honor of his 
townsman. The settlement upon the basis of extension, not com- 
promise, was realized according to the terms of it, and not a dollar 
of his liabilities of that crisis, or any other crisis, has remained out- 
standing. He passed through that memorable epoch in finance, 
not without serious loss, but with the greater benefit of paying 
every dollar of indebtedness, principal and interest, with credit not 
only exempt from harm, but positively strengthened by the firmness 
of his integrity and the gallantry of his conduct. 

Colonel Hazard now became interested in the manufacture of 
gunpowder, a business which he subsequently pursued to a remark- 
able extent, and with equally remarkable results. His exertions in 
this field of enterprise culminated, in 1843, in his organizing the 
Hazard Powder Company, a corporation which has since become 
known in all parts of the United States. In 1845, realizing the 
importance of personal residence in the vicinity of an establishment 
about to become so extended, he removed to Enfield, Connecticut, 
where he resided through the remainder of his life. Under his 
charge atid direction the manufactory rose to enlarged proportions. 
The boldness and balance of his executive talent in afi^airs became 
manifest in the extension of the establishment and the success of 
its operations, which have given it a prominence everywhere among 
all of its class. 

A mill in the town of Canton, another in East Hartford, and a 
third at Scitico have been only aids and adjuncts to the main works 
lying in the secluded and beautiful valley of Fair Lawn in Enfield : 

639 



6 AUGUSTUS G. HAZARD. 

the last mentioned extending along the Scantic River, more than a 
mile in length, and covering an area of five hnndred acres; employ- 
ing a succession of waterfalls; comprising more than a hundred 
buildings, judiciously distributed and all put in requisition ; a 
motive-power of thirty water-wheels and four steam-engines; and a 
variety of machinery, of which the magnitude is illustrated in 
thirty-six cast-iron rollers of eight tons each, separated but acting 
in unison. These in outline represent the vigor, enterprise, and 
skill which have obtained so high position in the ranks of competi- 
tors and in the markets of the country. Coming to Enfield with a 
resolute purpose to excel in his sphere of prodnction, he elevated 
the reputation of his manufacture to a point not surpassed by any 
in this or other countries, as acknowledged by those engaged in all 
the leading works of internal improvement, and especially in the 
calls for the higher grades of powder coming from individuals and 
governments, as well of Great Britain as the United States. As 
an illustration of the great power and unerring exactness to which 
this enterprise attained under his direction, in a single instance 
during the Crimean war these works furnished, at short notice, to 
the English government ten thousand barrels of rifle and cannon 
powder, every pound of which was approved and accepted by the 
British Boards of Ordnance. In prosecuting these complicated 
undertakings, it has been a uniform policy to advance slowly upon 
the basis of solid capital created in the business ; to sin-ink from no 
outlay required by progressive development ; to count the cost and 
make sure the event. 

He was the founder of the village of Hazardville, now become 
one of the busiest in Connect 'cut. Lord Bacon places at the head 
of benefactors, the founders of colonies or plantations. This defini- 
tion, given to the world almost simultaneously with the establish- 
ment of the great colonies of Kew England, may, not immodestly, 
be extended to those persons who have applied genius and industry 
to planting in subdivision new villages, new centers of civil life, 
population, and beneficence. Accordingly it has been the custom 

640 



AUGUSTUS G. HAZARD. 7 

of the people of l!Tew England to rate her sons in this mode of 
account, and to bestow in their honor their individual names to tlie 
villages or plantations vs^hich they have established. In the present 
instance the foresight of the founder was equaled bv his liberality. 
In the amplitude of space and reservation for public uses, in distri- 
bution of park, lawn, and shade-tree, he planted not only for the 
present, but for future generations. In the erection of churches — 
one of them of marked taste and elegance — an institute for educa- 
tion, and school-houses, he exhibited a similarly enlarged view and 
supported it by contributing from his own purse not less than 
thirty thousand dollars. 

In politics Col. Hazard wiis steadfastly a "Whig, during the exist- 
ence of that party rich in jnen and annals. He was of that class, 
the old line, who were reluctant to recognize any leaders inferior 
to Henry Clay and Daniel Webster. Acting in this faith and 
practice he was for several years chairman of the Whig State Com- 
mittee of Connecticut, contributing with equal liberality from his 
money and time. At one period he was quite generally regarded 
as being in the line of succession to the highest office in the State, 
but the paramount claims of his great business compelled him to 
decline all such suggestions and to turn political office over to those 
having time and love for it. For himself, willing to grant service 
to the public, he nevertheless deemed private station to be the post 
of honor. In 1852, when the Whig party met its crisis, he was 
chairman of the delegation sent from Connecticut to the National 
Convention which assembled at Baltimore. He advocated tlve 
nomination of Mr. Webster. In intimate association with Mr. 
Ashmun and Mr. Choate he invested his heart in the interest of 
the American senator and statesman. He was the personal friend 
of that great man and shared his confidence. In all the ballotings 
he adhered to his cause. The writer has heard from the lips of Mr. 
Choate an admirable description of the eloquence displayed by 
Col. Hazard in the numerous meetings held in that city prelimi- 
nary to public action. He accepted as the truth of history, in 
41 641 



8 AUGUSTUS G. HAZARD. 

advance of its fulfillment, the memorable remark of Mr. Webster, 
that henceforth the Whig party would exist only in history. When 
this prophetic declaration came to practical fulfillment many felt 
released from the old ties and free to make a choice of the new. 
Accordingly, in companionship with many leading men of the 
time, he took side with the Democratic party. This relation 
brought him, in 1850, to the support of Mr. Buchanan, and he was 
placed at the head of the electoral ticket in Connecticut. Four 
years later, in ithe campaign of 1860, he occupied the same promi- 
nence in advocacy of Mr. Donglas for President ; and at the conven- 
tion held at Charleston andadjonrnedto Baltimore he adhered through 
the long-continued ballotlngsto the fortune of the new commoner of 
tJbe AVest. Upon the bi'eaking out of the war in 1861, though con- 
tinuing his attachment to associations and traditions which were 
now broken indeed, though still dear in memory, he upheld the na- 
tional cause. Union and nationality he subscribed to and believed 
in, and risked for them all of present fortune and future hope. A 
broad patriotism nniformly predominated in his heai't over every 
party, and the unity and honor of the republic were with him the 
first and the last thought. 

Upon removing from New York to Enfield in 1815 he erected 
the elegant and spacious mansion which during his remaining years 
was consecrated to domestic happiness and private as well as public 
hospitality. It was a home which his prosperity furnished ; which 
his heart most adorned ; which his fellow-citizens for many years 
frequently enjoyed, and wished might continue his during the long- 
est period allotted to human life. Here during almost a quarter of 
a century he lived in the possession of continued success, ample 
fortune, personal health, the respect and esteem of troops of friends, 
of the still larger circle of business and acquaintance, and above all 
else, of the broken, yet still strong ranks of family and kindred. 
He so dispensed the measure of his hospitality that by thousands 
who came hither it was reckoned to the credit of the commonwealth. 
He blended the genial qualities of the New England gentleman of 

642 



AUGUSTUS G. HAZARD. y 

the former period with the tone of the Liter times which had become 
more abmidant in the ways and means of living. 

Under his roof youth and age found in companionship a cordial 
sympathy; the wealthy met witli a reception not disappointing 
expectation ; the poor and humble found generosity in all the house- 
hold, and a friend in its head. His was the old JS'ew England 
homestead reproduced, enlarged and enlivened by the modern 
generation, pei*petuating the virtues of tlie past and embellisliing 
them from the greater opportunities of tlie present time. He will 
long be remembered as the central and commanding figure of the 
place. He possessed marked advantages of person whicli were 
fitted to attract attention and respect. The proportions of one of 
nature's noblemen were in him gracefully combined, but his own 
magnetic power in social life gave to them tlieir higliest tone and 
color : — 

"A combination and a form, indeed, 
^ To give the world assurance of a man." 

Colonel Hazard died May 7, 1868. Cordial were the expressions, 
both near and from afar, from individuals and the public press, 
betokening the general sense of loss. Many tliousands, comprising 
persons in all the walks of life, assembled at the ftineral. In all 
the long-drawn valley of the Connecticut, studded with the homes of 
tlie cultured and the good, rarely has a man passed away wlioso 
death has been so keenly felt and widely mourned. The following 
passages taken from a lengthened article in the Springfield Itepuh- 
lie.an^ were justly deemed to express the sentiments of tlie entire 
community : — 

"It is a representative life and character that has thus passed 
away. They could hardly have existed in any other country than 
America, Of humble origin in Rhode Island, without the advan- 
tages of culture, he bsgan his manhood life as a mechanic — -a 
bouse painter — and worked in New York and vicinity, and in the 
South. From this he stepped into an insurance agency for the 
Hertford companies \\\ the metropolis, and out of this he passed, 

643 



10 AUGUSTUS G. HAZARD. 

some twenty-iive years ago, to the great work of his business life, 
the manufacture of powder. Beginning it in a small way. in the 
town of Enfield, Connecticut, whither he at once removed, it grew, 
under his vigorous force and instinctive faith, to vast proportions. 
The Mexican war came first, then the European wars, and last our 
great civil war, and all the time the widening demand for powder 
for public works and internal improvements fed and stimulated his 
enterprise, until he had become the most extensive powder manu- 
facturer in the whole world. His principal mills were at Hazard- 
ville, in his own town ; but others were located in different parts 
of Hartford County. ISTearly every State and Territory of the nation 
had its special depot of Hazard's powder, land and buildings always 
belonging to him, so that he was a real estate owner in more States 
and sections of the republic than any other citizen. In the South, 
in California, in Colorado, and other distant sections, he had fine 
store-houses, and transacted an extensive business. 

" But though his capacity and fame as a business man and a capi- 
talist were thus sufficient to place him in the front rank among 
materialistic -judging Americans, this was not what most impressed 
those wlio met him — what they thought of in his society— ^what 
gained him respect and affection with family and friends and neigh- 
bors. The real distinction of the man was big-heartedness. His 
was, indeed, a royal nature ; its force, large as this was, was so 
softened and sweetened by all quick and fine sensibilities ; by such 
generosity of feeling, such enthusiasm of expression, that every 
heart warmed in his presence and did not think of his powder nor 
of his wealth, but of his rich endowments of manhood and woman- 
hood, and gave him its sympathy, not from any conviction of reason 
or any influence of intellect, but from genuine irresistible human 
feeling. He was not a man to drive, or perhaps to convince, — for 
he had a stubborn faith in his own instincts, — but to melt. He was 
conquered, as he conquered, by sympathy and good fellowship. 
His generous nature flowed out in all manly ways, and to all good 
objects ; in politics, in religious matters, in social relations, every- 

644 



AUGUSTUS G. HAZARD. H 

where and on every topic. In politics, his one instinct was nation- 
ality, his one inspiration, Americanism, and whether as Whig or 
conservative Democrat, he had no platform but the Union and the 
Constitution, no symbol but the flag. His interest in public afl'airs 
led him to occasional political addresses, in which his enthusiasm 
and his faith made him always successful. He was tiie friend and 
frequent companion, while living, of Mr. Webster; and in the year 
1859, we think, was the Democratic candidate for the lieutenant- 
governor of Connecticut. 

" Col. Hazard was sixty-six years old. He leaves a widow and 
three daughters. Other children, including sons, he had buried ; 
and some of the richness of his character was due to the touch of 
death and the experience of sorrow." 

645 





'^^-/^ 




JAMES G. BLAII^E, OF MAIKE, 

SPEAKER OF THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES 

»HE Speakership of the National House of Representatives 
is justly regarded as a post of peculiar honor, as it is one 
of great labor and responsibility. It requires in its occu- 
pant a thorough knowledge of Parliamentary Law in all its com- 
plexity, acuteness in analyzing, great rapidity in decision, firmness 
in administration, all combined with personal energy of the highest 
order and rare physical endurance. 

James Gillespie Blaine, of the State of Maine, the present 
Speaker of the House, is a native of Pennsylvania. He was born 
at " Indian Hill," the seat of his family, in the County of Wash- 
ington, in the year 1830. His ancestors were Scotch and Scotch 
Irish, who settled in the colony of Pennsylvania about the year 
1746. The great-grandfather of Speaker Blaine was a distinguished 
officer of the Revolutionary War; originallj' a colonel of the Penn- 
sylvania line, and for the last four years of the struggle was Com- 
missary-General of the Northern Department. His distinguished 
and patriotic service may be found recorded in the " Archives of 
Pennsylvania." Honorable mention is also made of him in several 
of our standard liistories; and in Apjdetoii's Cijclopcedia it is 
related that " during the dark whiter at Yalley Forge, the preser- 
vation of the American army from starvation was in a great degree 
owing to the exertions and sacrifices of Colonel Elaine." 

The Speaker's early education was attended to with great care. 
His father, Ephrajm Lyon Blaine, was a gentleman of culture and 
Iiigh social position, and bestowed every attention upon the training 
of his son. The County of Washington was always famed for its 

647 



2 JAMES G. BLAINE. 

excellent schools, and its chief literary institution, the " College of 
"Washington and Jefferson," stands deservedly high in the Middle, 
Western, and Southwestern States, from which it has long enjoyed 
a generous patronage. At this college Mr. Blaine graduated in 
1847 at the early age of seventeen, in a highly distinguished class of 
thirty-seven members. Mr. Blaine was the youngest member of 
the class, but divided the first honor with a Yirginian, some four 
years his senior and his most intimate friend. At the Commence- 
ment Mr, Blaine delivered an oration on " The Duty of an Educated 
American," which attracted a great deal of attention from the 
matured and well-considered observations it contained, and the 
ambitious industry it foreshadowed. 

Aft.er his graduation, Mr. Blaine lived some three years in the 
South as a teacher, during which time he was himself a student of 
history, general literature, and law ; fitting himself for the edito- 
rial profession, which he entered on his return to Pennsylvania. 
In 1852, when in his twenty-third year, he settled in Maine, and 
shortly afterwards became editor of the Kennebec Journal^ and 
subsequently of the Portland Daily Advertiser^ both leading 
Republican papers in Maine, 

In 1858 Mr. Blaine was elected to the Legislature of Maine 
from the city of Augusta. In the early part of 1864, Mr, Blaine 
spoke on the propriety of the general government paying the "war 
d.ebts of the loyal States," and during the discussion he spoke 
quite lengthily of the ability of our government to carry on the 
war in which we were then so fiercely engaged. That part of Mr. 
Blaine's speech was the subject of great discussion at the time, and, 
indeed, became one of the campaign documents of the Union Re- 
publican party in the Presidential contest of 1864. 

In the winter of 1865-6 Mr. Blaine showed himself particularly 
energetic in passing laws upon measures of reconstruction. In the 
early part of January, 1866, Mr. Blaine proposed a resolution, 
.which finally became the basis of that part relating to Congres- 
sional representation in the Fourteenth Amendment. Previous to 

648 



JAMES G. BLAINE. 3 

Mr. Blaine's resolution, the drift appeared to be to base represen- 
tation on the voting population ; his resolution, however, caused an 
entire change. He introduced the first resolution when they were 
preparing the modification of the above bill. Mr. Blaine supported 
the modification by a speech which was the object of much atten- 
tion. 

In the second session of the Thirty-ninth Congress, he showed 
himself equally as prominent and influential as in former sessions. 
A military bill of Mr. Stevens gave occasion to the " Blaine Amend- 
ment," which was the subject of general discussion in all the papers 
for some time. It has not passed into history under the name of 
the " Blaine Amendment," but is substantially the same, although 
better known as the " Howard Amendment," or perhaps the 
" Sherman Amendment." Mr. Blaine has also showed himself very 
able in some of his discussions on finance. He was the first one to 
declare against the Pendleton theory as heresy. In the early part 
of the December session of 186T, he made an eloquent speech 
against the payment of our bonds in greenbacks, instead of gold. 

We here give the closing paragraphs of Mr. Blaine's first speech 
regarding the Pendleton theory. They seem almost to have been 
prophetic, when we look at the measures since enunciated in the 
National Eepublican Platform : 

"The remedy for our financial troubles, Mr. Chairman, will not be found in a super- 
abundance of depreciated paper currency. It lies in the opposite direction ; and the 
sooner the nation liuds itself on a specie basis, the sooner will the public treasury be 
freed from embarrassment, and private business relieved from discouragement. In- 
stead, therefore, of entering upon a reckless and boundless issue of legal tenders, with 
their consequent depression, if not destruction, of value, let us set resolutely at work 
and make those already in circulation equal to so many gold dollars. When that 
result shall be accomplished, we can proceed to pay our five-twenties either in coin or 
paper, for the one would be the equivalent of tlie other. But to proceed deliberately on 
a sclieme of depreciating our legal tenders, and then forcing the holders of government 
bonds to accept them in payment, would resemble, in point of honor, the policy of a 
merchant, who, witii abundant resources and prosperous business, sliould devise a 
plan for throwing discredit on his own notes with the view of having them bought >ip 
at a discount ruinous to the holders and immediately profitable to his own knavish 
pocket. This comparison may faintly illustrate tlie wrongfulness of the policy, but 
not its consummate folly; for in the case of the goverumenc, unlike the merchant, 

649 



4 JAMES G. BLAINE. 

the stern necessity would recur of making good in the end, by the payment of hard 
coin, all tlie discount that miglit be gained by tlie temporary substitution of paper. 

" Disregarding all such scliemes as at once unworthy and unprofitable, let us direct 
our poh'cy steadily, but not rashly, toward the resumption of specie payment. And 
when we have attained that end — easily attainable at no distant day if the proper 
policy be pursued-^we can all unite in some honorable plan for the redemption of the 
five-twenty bonds, and the issuing instead thereof a new series of bonds which can be 
more favorably placed at a lower rate of interest, Wlien we shall have reached the 
specie basis, the value of United States securities will be so high in the money markets 
of the world, that we can command our own terms. "We can then call in our five- 
twenties according to the very letter and spirit of the bond, and adjust a new loan that 
will be eagerly sought for by capitalists, and will be free from those elements of 
discontent that in some measure surround the existing funded debt of the country." 



On the 4tli of March, 1S69, the day of General Grant's inaugu- 
ration, Mr. Blaine was chosen Speaker of the House of Represen- 
tatives. That place is so cons])icuously in the public eye, and the 
manner in which Mr. Blaine discharges his duties is so well known, 
that we do not deem it needful to say more than that he is the 
worthy successor of the eminent gentleman who on the same day 
was transferred to the Vice- Presidency. 

Mr. Blaine is an indefatigable worker, a fine statistician ; he reasons 
logically and possesses great fluency of speech. He is a perfect 
master of parliamentary law. He has often been well tested by 
occupying the Speaker's chair temporarily. In whatever position 
he is placed he retains his dignity, good humor, and self-possession. 
We give a description taken from the New York Tribune near the 
close of the Thirty-ninth Congress : " Mr. Blaine, whose amend- 
ment excites the opposition of the great Pennsylvanian, is metallic: 
you can not conceive how a shot should pierce him, for there seem 
no joints to his harness. He is a man who knows what the weather 
was yesterday morning in Dakota, what the Emperor's policy will 
be touching Mexico, on what day of the week the 16th of Decem- 
ber proximo will fall, who is the chairman of the school-committee 
m Kennebunk, what is the best way of managing the national 
debt, together with all the other interests of to-day, which anybody 
else would stagger under. How he does it, nobody knows. He is 
always in his seat. He must absorb details by assimilation at his 

650 



JAMES G. BLAINE. 5 

finofer-eiids. As I said, lie is clear metal. His features are made 
ill a mold ; his attitudes are those of a bronze figure ; his voice 
clinks ; and, as you know, he has ideas fixed as brass." 

It it shall please God to prolong his life for still many years and 
continue him in vigorous health, Mr. Blaine has before him a 
career of increased usefulness and honor. He possesses sterling 
qualities of mind and heart, qualities indeed that will ever com- 
mand tlie admiration and respect of his fellow-countrymen. 

Speaker Blaine is socially an affable, agreeable man, and pos- 
sesses a fine personal appearance. In every position he has held he 
has shown himself worthy of the public trust reposed in him. 

651 



GEE"ERAL OLIVER H. PALMER. 

BY J. ALEXANDER PATTEN, 

P'^JfPlS' earnest activity, and success solely through personal 
^^r^ effort, are the characteristics of the career of General 



'<^='-tix Oliver H. Palmer, now treasurer of tliat great corporation, 
the "Western Union Telegraph Company. His spheres of action 
have been widely different ; but in all of them he has shown mental 
and moral capabilities of the highest order. Self-reliant, con- 
scientious, energetic, and honorable, he has won his way to honors 
and emoluments, which afford the best evidence of both his ability 
and character. 

He was born October 5, 1814, at Walworth, Wayne County, 
"JTew York, about twelve miles from the city of Rochester. His 
father, Nathan Palmer, was a native of Granville, Washington 
County, New York ; and his mother, whose maiden name was 
Lamb, was a native of Welles, in the State of Vermont. In 
1806 his parents emigrated to Wayne County, then a far western 
region, and a vast wilderness, where they ever after resided. The 
tract of land selected was an immense forest of six hundred acres. 
All the personal effects of tlic settlers had to be transported on 
horseback four miles into the forest, for the nearest settlement and 
wagon-road was that distance from the point of location. 

The subject of our notice first saw the light in one of the primi- 
tive log-houses of the times, and was brought up, after the manner 
of frontier farmers' sons, to the hardest vrork. He had sli2:ht com- 
mon-school advantages until he was sixteen years of age. After 
that, and until he was twenty-one, he worked on the farm during 
the summer, and taught school during the winter. From an early 
age he evinced a great desire to acquire an education, and at his 

653 



2 0L1VP:R U. PALMER. 

maturity had fair attainments as an English scliolar. In the mid&t 
of this solitude of nature, and of the hxbor of the pioneer, he felt 
an earnest prompting to prepare himself for a wider scope of efforts 
in the future. In a statement referring to these early days, he 
says : " After faithfully serving oiit my time, as we used to call it 
at home, I informed my father that I liad determined to see if I 
could not contrive some way by which I could acquire a better 
education — that I proposed to do so without calling upon him for 
any aid — that I might want a few dollars to start with, but I 
thought I should be able to work my way, after a short time, and 
all that I wanted of him was his approbation.'"' 

The lirst two years of his majority were passed at the Genesee 
Wesleyan Seminary, at Lima, New York, where he soon procured 
a situation as tutor, and was thus enabled to pay his own way. 
lie fitted himself to enter tke Sophomore class at Union College, l)ut 
circumstances occurred that made it necessary, as a matter of duty, 
that he should remain, for a time at least, on the farm. In January, 
1839, he entered the law ofiice of Judge Theron E. Strong, of 
Palmyra. This gentleman's attention had been especially attracted 
to young Palmer by his power exhibited in a debate on the slavery 
question, in the village meeting-house. lie commenced study with 
his usual resolution in such matters. His plan was to read from 
five in the morning until nine a. m., attend to his business duties 
of the office until eight P. m., and then resume reading until eleven 
at night. This programme was faithfully carried out for two 
years. In July, 1842, he was duly admitted to the bar as an 
attorney and counselor of the Supreme Court, and as a solicitor 
and coimselor in Chancery. Judge Strong took his seat in Con- 
gress in 1839, and much of the responsibility of his extensive 
practice devolved upon Mr. Palmer, and in June, 1844, he became 
an equal partner in the business. He thus remained until October, 
1851, when he removed to Rochester, and entered into partnership 
with his brother-in-law, George H. Mumford, Esq. 

During 1840 and 1841, in addition to the duties of professional 

C54 



OLIYER H, PALMER. 3 

life, he was editor of the leading Democratic paper of the county, 
a weekly journal. In 1842 he was appointed First Judge of the 
Courts of Wayne County, whicli office he held for over two years, 
and then resigned. He finally retired from practice in April, 1803, 
to take the field as a colonel of volunteer troops. He enjoyed a 
constantly increasing practice while at the bar, and left it with the 
universal respect of his legal brethren. 

In November, 1843, he was united in marriage with Miss Susan 
Augusta Hart, daughter of the late Truman Hart, tlien of the inter- 
esting age of nineteen years, and a person of rare beauty and 
accomplishments. 

For several years prior to 1848 his views on the subject of slavery 
had undergone considerable modification from those held by the 
masses of the Democratic party. Consequently, in that year lie 
became active as a supporter of the Free-Soil Van Buren 
platform, as adopted at Buffalo. He subsequently became identi- 
fied with the Republican party, and worked earnestly for the 
election of Abraham Lincoln. 

On the breaking out of the civil war in 1861, he immediately took 
an active part on the side of tlie government. In July^ 1802, he 
became a member of a committee to take charge of the raising of 
troops in Monroe County. The One Hundred and Eighth Regi- 
ment was duly raised and equipped, but it was found difficult to 
obtain a person to take command of it. One day, in a fit of 
desperation at this condition of matters, he decided that, if no 
one else could be found willing to assume the responsibility, un- 
fitted as he regarded himself for such a position, he would take 
it. To his astonishment, the committee at once recommended 
him to Governor Morgan for the colonelcy, and on the 28th July 
he received notice of his appointment. 

It will be remembered that this was at one of the most critical 
periods of the war, and General Palmer, who had studied closely 
the varying aspects of the contest, saw at a glance the great peril 
of the country and the urgent necessity of decided, vigorous, and 

G55 



4 OLIVER H. PALMER. 

prompt action in response to President Lincoln's call of July 1st 
for placing more troops immediately in the field. 

McClellan's fine army had been demoralized — Eichmond, which 
was in its grasp, and Lee's army at its mercy, through cowardice or 
incompetency of the commanding general, had been left unmo- 
lested, and the way to our national capital- opened to the Confed- 
erate forces. It was at this juncture and in this exigency that men 
of the quick perception, decided action, and patriotic impulses of 
General Palmer, sprang to the breach and, under God, saved the 
nation. 

The measure of this man's patriotism was great indeed. The 
echoes of the guns of Fort Sumter had scarcely been heard when 
he threw his whole soul into the work of the contest. And now, 
though his age, and the situation of his family and business, offered 
the greatest discouragement to such an undertaking, he determined 
to accept the appointment which had been so unexpectedly con- 
ferred upon him. He at once came to the conclusion that he must 
accept or go to Canada, or some other seclusion ; that he could 
uot, in such an emergency, walk the streets of Rochester, or repose, 
Math any degree of quiet conscience, under the flag of his country, 
declining to stand by it or go to its rescue, and to death, if need be, 
when so called upon. 

His patriotic action did not pass unnoticed by his fellow-citizens 
of Rochester. A letter addressed to him, dated Rochester, August 
14, 1862, and now before us, is as follows : — 

" My Neighbor and esteemed Friend : — 

" I desire to contribute sometlnng toward your outfit for the public service. Allow 
me to defray the expense of your sword, pistols, saddle, and bridle. Please draw on 
me for the cost of these articles at your convenience. 

"None but your intimate friends can fully appreciate the exalted motives that prompt 
you to exchange the quiet comforts of home and family for the privations and turmoils 
and dangers of war. The anarchy and ruin whicli threaten our country will be averted, 
if self-sacrificing patriotism like yours pervades the people. If it does not, we are un- 
worthy to enjoy the mild and beneficent government under which we have lived in 
security and peace." 

Colonel Palmer at once assumed command of the One Hundred 

656 



OLIVER n. PALMER. 5 

and Eighth Kegiraent, which was the second regimental organiza- 
tion in the State under the call of July 3, 1S03. On the 19th of 
Augus.t, the regiment took its departure, under orders for the seat of 
war, by way of New York, nine hundred and eighty strong, officers 
and men. Reaching Washington on the 23d, it was ordered into 
camp about seven miles north of the Potomac. Space will not 
allow ns to trace all the numerous movements of this regiment in 
the active campaign upon which it imtnediately entered. Suffice it 
to say that it took a memorable part in General McClellan's cam- 
paign in Maryland and Virginia, including tlie battles of South 
Mountain and Antietam, and in General Burnside's movement 
upon Fredericksburg. Colonel Palmer exhibited not only remark- 
able efficiency in maintaining tlie drill of the regiment, but great 
heroism in the field. At Fredericksburg he coinmanded a l)rigade, 
which was in the advance division. On the date of receiving his 
first order to leave camp, to take part in a movement against 
the enemy, he wrote the following noble words : " I feel that 
I am strictly in the line of a sacred duty. Nothing but a stern 
sense of duty would ever have induced me to leave the quiet 
and comforts of home, wife, and children, for the rongh and 
tumble of camp life, and the hazards and turmoil of war ; and it is 
better for my children, and those that may come after them, that 
the country should be saved, and our free institutions preserved 
and handed down to posterity, than that my life should be spared. 
What are a few years of man's life compared with the untold bless- 
ings that will follow generations to come, if, by the sacrifice, our 
beneficent government can be maintained ? " Later he writes : " Wo 
are now constantly under arms. The universe is my bedchamber. 
I retire by the light of the stars, and seldom condescend to take oft' 
boots or spurs ; generally breakfast and dine in my saddle, of 
course, on hard cracker, or nothing." Again : " I feel heartily sorry 
for the poor men. In our marches many of them fall out, as we 
call it, but really fall down by the way-side from sheer exhaustion, 
and die, poor fellows, as brutes die. My heart bleeds for them, but 
42 657 



6 OLIYER H. PALMER. 

I am as powerless as an infant to aid them. I am but a oog in the 
great wheel of the army, and have to turn when the power is ap- 
plied." From the battle-field of Antietam, September 18, 1862, he 
writes: "The balls and shells flew like hailstones all over, under, 
and around me. I thank God on account of my dear wife, and on ac- 
count of my darling but helpless children, as I never thanked Him 
before, that I am to-day alive and sound, and I pray that His pro- 
tection may continue to shield me. My trust is in Him, and I feel 
resigned to whatever fate is in the future." On the 19th he writes : 
"We lay upon the field until nine o'clock yesterday morning, with- 
out food, blankets, or shelter. I had no idea of the horrors of war 
till I find myself suddenly in the midst of them, and I am ready and 
Avilling, horrid as it is, if I can aid in any degree to end this ac- 
cursed rebellion, to take my chances, leaving results in the hands 
of an overruling Providence." Of the attack on the heights of 
Fredericksburg, he writes: "It was an advance to disaster and 
death. We had to cross tlie plain about eighty rods in the face of 
a destructive, accurate, and deadly fire, and then we were brought 
up against a high stone wall, protected in front by an impassable 
canal, and against sand-banks protected by insurmountable abatis 
that no infantry in the world could overcome, while fz'om this wall 
and from these sand-banks were poured down upon us torrents of 
grape and canister, and lead from the unerring rifles of the sharp- 
shooters, and we could fire only by guess. It was too hot. One- 
third of my brigade was disabled in twenty minutes, and I was 
compelled to fall back. . . . The scene was frigiitful, but in- 
tensely exciting. ISTew brigades of fresh troops were forming in 
line and advancing, hoping to be more successful, but I knew they 
were doomed to disappointment and death. Broken and shattered 
companies, regiments, and brigades were falling back. Dead and 
wounded officers and men were being borne to the rear. Some in 
blankets, more on the shoulders of comrades. You would see one 
here with one arm, another there with one ]eg, trying to get back; 
some moaning, som^swearing. -Occasionally a poor fellow, trying 

658 



OLIVER H. PALMER. 7 

to save the half not shot away, would disappear in fragments by a 
solid shot, or amidst the smoke of an exploded shell." 

Ill health at length obliged Colonel Palmer to ask to be relieved 
from his command. On the 6th of March, 1863, he took leave of 
his regiment, near Falmouth, in a patriotic and touching address. 
Its closing words were as follows : — 

" Soldiers, I shall watch you witli iutense interest. I shall feel your sufferings and 
your hardships. I shall rejoice in your fame and success. Tour glory will cheer me 
wherever I am ; but 3'our shame would crush my lieart. Remember tliat I own an 
interest in those once bright and beautiful, now scarred and tattered, but still more 
beautiful, banners, which I value above all price. They bear record of your valor. 
The threescore and ten stars made in them by rebel bullets at the battle of Antietam 
form a constellation worthy almost of adoration. Stand by them. And when you 
return again to your peaceful home, bring them with you that I may again see them, 
and unite with you in the appropriate action for their lasting preservation. 

" Soldiers, may God's blessings and favor follow you. Farewell." 

On the 22d of May, 1866, he was commissioned as Brigadier- 
General by brevet, for faithful and maritorious service. It was a 
considerable time before he recovered his health. 

After his return to Rochester, he was invited h) contribute his 
talents and energies to the management of the Western Union 
Telegraph Company, in the important office of treasurer. He 
accepted the position, and has since been identified with the 
company. When the offices were removed to New York, he 
also removed to that city, where he has become a permanent 
resident. The responsibility and duties of this office are very 
onerous, and during the summer of 1870 he sought relaxation 
in Europe. He enjoys and deserves a handsome salary. lie is 
also one of the directors of the Mutual Life Insurance Comj)any 
of New York. 

Althon2;h thoroughly acquainted with ])olitical affairs and 
•familiar with the current history of parties, he has persistently de- 
clined to make politics a profession, or allow tlie baubles of public 
office to interfere with or tempt hira from the legitimate pursuit of 
his business. In fact while he appreciates true statesmanship 
which tends to secure the greatest good to the greatest number, 

659 



8 OLIVER H. PALMER. 

and to advance the best interests of our common country, he has a 
just contempt for mere partisan management. 

General Pahner is above the average height, erect and graceful. 
His head is large, being more long than round, with a prominent 
and handsome brow. All the features are regular, and the expres- 
sion is cheerful and amiable. His eyes have a keen glance, while 
they are never anything but kindly. His manners are polished and 
genial, and there are few men who possess more captivating quali- 
ties in social intercourse. In his nature and actions he is frank 
and exact to truth and justice in every particular. He has a heart 
in which consideration and sympathy for his fellow-men have no 
small share. Unswerving in his integrity, public-spirited, and 
zealous in every business interest, he is justly regarded as one of 
the most valuable men of the day. 

It is worthy of thought that the positions of influence and trust 
to which General Palmer has attained have been reached from that 
humble log-house in the wilderness as a starting point. First, he 
sought knowledge, and he gained much even while he labored at 
the severe toil of the newly cleared farm. Then, filled with ambi- 
tion that made light of personal privations and defied all obstacles, 
he began his battle of life, which he has continued to its present 
stage of unqualified success and honor. 

660 



MAESHALL LEFFERTS. 




I^IIE men whose personal history the world needs are not 
\^M those who, by some successful venture, burst suddenly into 
fortune and fame; nor, indeed, those who, by shrewd calcu- 
lations and spider-like patience, devote life to tlie attainment of 
wealth. Nor does it need oven the history of genius, brilliant as 
may be its story and dazzling its work. The first excite to unhealth- 
ful ambition, to the planting of the crown of life upon a brow of 
gold. They subordinate the elements of a true character which 
gatliers to it as its prime necessities a regnant fidelity, to truth, a 
fellowship with purity, a sympathy with all who struggle, an 
ambition to brighten life for others. The latter lias the attraction 
only of a picture which we may admire but cannot imitate. The 
exceptional nature of genius robs it of stimulus. It is beyond 
reach. Men of genius are like " stars who dwell apart." They 
resemble the stars in their coldness, their distance, and their sheen. 
The true man is to be sought for less high. He is to be found 
where the masses of men are, toiling with them, helping them, 
devising plans which touch the springs of. human interest, seeking 
success through honor and persistent labor. Such men, haply, are 
multiplying. The world needs them. To record any such man's 
history is alike a duty and a pleasure. For such a reason we write 
this. 

General Marshall Lefferts is a name well-known in New York, in 
or near which he has spent his life. He was born in 1821 on Long 
Island, two and a half miles east of the present Brooklyn Ferry, 
known then, as now, as Bedford. Brooklyn was at that time the 
merest village. Various branches of the Lefferts family had settled 

G61 



2 MARSHALL LEFFERTS. 

on large and productive farms in that region long before the Revo- 
lution. Some of the ancient mansions occupied by them still 
remain, quietly resisting the encroaches of modern improvements, 
although surrounded by the broad pavements and sandstone fronts 
which mark the swell of population and increasing wealth. In one 
of these suburban homes General Lefferts was born, and is there- 
fore now forty-nine years of age, a man not yet at his meridian, 
and with a look and step of forty. His education, early begun and 
early ended, was received at the county school. At fifteen he 
became clerk in a leading hardware store. Here he contracted a 
love for iron which still holds him. Leaving this post because of 
delicate health, he attached himself to the staff of chief- engineer 
Stodart, then engaged in the survey of Brooklyn, This at once 
gave him health and led liim to the study of civil engineering, 
which he has continued ever since. By persistent application, 
natural aptitude, and fidelity, he soon became one of the staff of 
assistant engineers, and for three years was connected with this 
important survey. In a similar capacity he was connected with 
the survey of Greenwood, the most beautiful of all the cities of' the 
dead. 

But engineering did not give him scope enough ; his active mind 
craved a wider field. After a time he gave up the chain and theod- 
olite and returned to mercantile life, entering as clerk one of the 
oldest and most influential of the importing houses of New York. 
In less than three years he became a partner therein, and until 
1852 was the active manager of its affairs in America, there being 
branches of the house in London, Liverpool, and in China. No 
better certificate of capacity could be given. 

In 1S52, stimulated by a desire for more personal enterprise, and 
looking forward to a largely increased development of the manu- 
facturing uidustries of the country, Mr. Lefferts withdrew from the 
partnership referred to, and entered into the manufacture of iron 
from the ore, interesting himself also in the making and introduc- 
tion of galvanized iron. The galvanizing of iron had been at- 

662 



MARSHALL LEFFERTS. 3 

tempted, and, to a limited extent, had been successful in the hands 
of other parties before, but now it was perfected and brought into 
vast national use under the processes perfected by Mr. Lefferts. For 
several years he prosecuted this popular trade with great success. 
A large number of prominent houses now continue the manufac- 
ture of galvanized iron as a specialty, so greatly has the demand 
increased under the improvements thus effected. 

A new field, however, was now to open, and Mr. Lefferts entered it 
with instinctive Z3al. In 184:9, while still connected with the mer- 
cantile house to which reference has already been made, Alexander 
Bain, the distinguished electrician and inventor, arrived in Amer- 
ica, bearing to him letters of introduction. This led Mr, Lefferts 
at once to an examination of the invention of Mr. Bain, generally 
known by the name of the chemical telegraph, to see its value, and 
the wide iield apparently open for its application. Associating 
with liim a number of the wealthy merchants of I*^ew York and 
Boston, Mr. Lefferts, with characteristic promptitude and care, 
constructed a telegraph-line between these cities, and from ^ew 
York to Buffalo, of the most permanent and stable character, to 
be worked by this new system. This lino was so well built and 
so vigorously manned and managed, and Mr, Lefferts showed so 
much skill and energy in its organization and direction, and so 
popularized the telegraph by its liberal and thorough administra- 
tion, that a splendid service of plate was presented to him, bearing 
the following inscription : — 

"To Marsliall Lefferts, Ksq., President of tlie New York and New England, and New 
York State Telegraph Companies, from the Stockholders and Associate Press of New 
York City, as a token of the satisfaction and confidence inspired by his efficient services 
in advancing the cause and credit of the telegraph system — the noblest euterprize of 
this eventful age. June 25, 1850." 

This, we believe, is the only instance in which a like expression 
of appreciation has been conferred by the American press. 

Various vexatious and perplexing lawsuits were, however, soon 
commenced against the owners of the new line for infringement of 
tlie Morse patents. With the merits of the controversy we have 

663 



4 MARSHALL LEFFERTS. 

nothing to do ; it led, however, to a consolidation of the new lino 
with what were known as the "Morse lines," or rather with that 
part of them under the control of F. O. J, Smith. In this consoli- 
dation Mr. Leiferts refused to be a partj, even as a director, and 
retired from telegraphy until 1860, when ho commenced his plans 
for constructing lines of telegraph on what is known as the 
automatic or fast system of transmission. This movement of course 
arrested attention, and resulted in the purchase of the patents 
therefor by the American Telegraph Company, into which Mr. Lef- 
ferts was induced to enter as that Company's electric engineer. 

In this new relation General Leiferts at once shone. Large 
discretionary power was given him by its high-minded and liberal 
directory. He comprehended the necessity of a stable, well-built 
structure, in order to be able to popularize tlie system, reduce the 
cost of maintenance, and render telegraphic property valuable. 
At once, therefore, the whole field was put under review. Large 
sections of line were rebuilt, the wires were all carefully insulated 
and hung, the machinery was all examined and perfected, the labor 
of the offices graded and regulated, the whole staiF was re-or- 
ganized, and the utmost efficiency in every department esta'blished. 
In all this General Lefforts enjoyed the hearty co-operation and 
approbation of the Board of the American Telegraph Company, 
a Company who will always be remembered as one of the most 
efficient, the most liberal, the most successful ever organized iu 
America, and for which it is chiefly, perhaps solely, indebted to its 
able engineer. 

General Lefferts also shone as an engineer and electrician. He 
was the first in America who made and applied to practical use 
instruments for the detection of electric faults; he was the first to 
reduce the resistance of relays to common standards ; also the first 
to institute through wires, numbering them, and recording their 
daily working. He was also early appointed consulting engineer 
of the Atlantic Cable Company resident in America, an office 
which he still retains. In all this varied service there was evinced 

66^ 



MARSHALL LEFFERTS. 5 

an aptitude and a vigor whicli secured him the most unbounded 
confidence. 

In 1S66 the great telegraphic organizations of the country, fear- 
ful of complications arising from separate control, were consoli- 
dated under the charter of the Western Union Company, thus 
forming the largest telegraphic organization in the world. Of 
this gigantic corporation General Lefferts was chosen engineer, and 
which important post he still holds. To him the public, as well as 
the groat Company he serve.^, are indebted for the most complete 
and equital)le system of tariff ever devised. Its prominent feature 
is in that it discards all routes in calculating rates of tariff, and is 
based on air-line distances. All places thus stand alike. 

Perhaps no citizen not educated to a military life has been more 
identified with stirring military operations upon which the public 
peace and national safety depended. In 1851 Mr. Lefferts became 
a private in the now renowned Seventh Regiment of the city of 
New York. In one year thereafter he was elected Lieutenant- 
Colonel, and, in 1859, became its Colonel. Under his command 
the Regiment, to which Colonel Lefferts devoted much care and 
time, attained a high reputation not only at home but abroad. 
The Prince of Wales, at the time of his visit here, remarked as it 
deployed before him, " It is the finest regiment I have ever seen in 
any country." The I^ondoii United Service about the same time 
said of it, " The civilized world does not possess a finer corps." Its 
drill was perfect, its members were of the highest character, and 
largely connected with the oldest and best families of the city. 
It was the pride of New York. In 1861, when the guns of 
Charleston began their fire on Sumter, the Seventh Regiment, 
through its Colonel, at once reported itself ready for service, and 
was the first regiment to leave the city for the seat of war ; it was 
thoroughly patriotic and united. There can be no doubt that the 
example thus given of its ready patriotism at that critical period 
gave the first impulse which led to the immense enrollments which 
followed. It was the signal which made thousands follow. Its 

665 



Q MARSHALL LEFFERTS. 

march down Broadway, New York, aniidtlie tears and cheers of the 
people, will never be forgotten. Its arrival in Washington gave the 
first gleam of that spirit which linully brought to the nation victory 
and peace. And when dismissed, after fulfilling its first important 
and successful mission, Adjutant-General Thomas issued a special 
order, making known the high satisfaction of the War Depart- 
ment with the service rendered at so critical a moment of the 
nation's history ; and as it returned from its first short and stirring 
mission, the city of New York testified its thanks and admira- 
tion by the following resolution of the Union Defence Executive 
Committee : — 

•' Resolved, — That this committee desire to express their cordial recognition of the 
efficient services rendered to the cause of the country at a critical emergency of its 
public affairs by the Seventh Regiment of New York State militia, commanded by 
Colonel Marshall Lefferts ; and sliaring fully in the general feeling of gratification 
which pervades the community at learning that the commanding general of the United 
States Army, under the sanction of the President of the United States, lias acknowl- 
edged, in special general orders, 'the important service rendered by tliat regiment in 
an hour of dark and trying necessity,' Uie committee desire to unite their congratula- 
tions with those of their fellow-citizens in extending a welcome hand to cheer the 
return of a body of soldiers who have conferred such high honor on the city of New 
York." 

In like manner, in 18G2, when the Capital was threatened, and in 
18G3 when Lee swept into Pennsylvania, General Lefferts left New 
York Avith his gallant command with the same promptitude which 
had marked their first departure. Li the latter year a more perilous 
and delicate service than that connected with the operations against 
the Confederate army fell to the Seventh Regiment while yet at 
Frederick, Maryland, of which city Colonel Leff"erts was at the 
time military governor. The eleventh of July, 1863, was the day 
for the execution of the conscription under the enrollment act in the 
city of New York. On the thirteenth. New York was in the jaws 
of a great riot. For three days terror reigned, and murder, pillage, 
and general violence and robliery prevailed ; the contagion was 
spreading to other cities. On the fourteenth, news of this outbreak 
reached the camp at Frederick, and General Lefferts was ordered 

666 



MARSHALL LEFFERTS. 7 

fortliwitli to New York witli his command. In less than five hours 
the Seventh Regiment was on its way liome, and by its presence 
and activity soon restored the city to peace and order The record 
of tliese dark days shows how much 'New York is indebted to the 
vigor and discretion of General Leiferts, as well as to tlie nobJe 
men who served under him, for the final suppression of a riot which 
threatened at one time to be widespread and desolating. And, as 
at the first, so throughout the war, the regiment, under its patriotic 
head, obeyed every summons sent to it. When the contest ended, 
and peace came to the wearied nation. General Leiferts resigned. 
It was declined, however, in very complimentary terms, by -the 
Governor of the State, who oifered him a brigade and commission, 
that his services might be thus secured. This, however, General 
Lefferts declined, and in June, 1S6G, after thirteen years' service as 
major, lieutenant-colonel, and colonel, commanding the regiment 
through the most trying and brilliant period of its record, secured 
acceptance of his long-tendered resignation. He was soon after 
chosen commandant of the Yeteran Corps, which he now holds, 
but has been separated from active service for several years. 

General Leiferts is a great lover of books ; especially such as 
treat of scientific subjects, and has, perhaps, the best electric library 
in Kew York. He is a member of the New York Llistorical Society, 
also of the Geographical and Statistical Society, of whose council 
for several years he has been one of the most active members. 

General Lefferts has always been popular among his associates 
and those serving under him. He places no walls between himself 
and his subordinates, and has always been distinguished for a desire 
to render their labor agreeable and their remuneration just. His 
duties do not prevent him from entering largely into sj'mpathy 
with the poor of New York, in some of the organizations for the 
relief of which he is an active member and counselor. He has also 
provided himself with expensive apparatus for electrical displays, 
which he uses in giving free lectures in the homes for the destitute. 
Occupying thus a position of honor and usefulness, cultivating 

G67 



8 MARSHALL LEFFERTS. 

alike bis head and heart bj his daily employments, biy life is alike 
honorable, successful, and beneficent. May many years yet be 
given him to further illustrate the success which attends fidelity, 
and the honor which follows all men who, in imitation of Him who 
with benignant hand raised the poor and blessed them, seek to 
brighten the path of the lowly and thus irradiate their own. 

668 




^^^:^^. 




HONDEMAS BARNES 

REPRESENTATIVE FROM NI-"W\rYOFK 




HOK. DEMAS BAEl^ES. 

BY J. AiEXANDER PATTEN. 



r^^IOGRAPHY has a twofold office. It is a narrative of facts, 
^ and a teach or of the lessons of life. It shows where and 
how men have made battle with discouragements, and its 
teachings are lamps to guide the feet of those still struggling for 
success. The biography here to be related affords facts of great 
interest, and significant lessons of moral heroism. 

Hon. Demas Barnes was born in Gorham Township, Ontario 
County, New York, April 4, 1827. He was reared upon a farm. 
Having lost his father while yet an infant, his life from the days of 
his cradle w^as one of hardship. At a very early age he gave evi- 
dence that he fully recognized his condition and duties. The judg- 
ment and heroism then displayed were worthy of matured years, 
and gave proof of the stamina of character of which he has since 
been so marked an example. 

At length he made up his mind that the farm was no place for 
him. Consequently at the early age of fourteen, we find him leav- 
ing his country home. All his worldly effects were tied in a cotton 
handkerchief. He set his face toward the far-distant city of New 
York, as the goal of all his hopes. He was obliged to work his way. 
After weeks of travel, he reached the city without the price of a 
breakfast in his pocket. Not finding any employment, he earned 
his first meal by manual labor on the docks. An interesting coin- 
cidence of his career may be here mentioned. Passing the Park 
Theater, whic-h stood in Park Row, one evening soon after his ar- 
rival, its brilliancy invited him to enter, but upon counting his 
money he had not enough to procure admission. That ancient 
landmark in New York, it is well-known, \v'as burnt December 16, 

6G9 



2 EON. DEMAS BARNES. 

1848, and where it then stood is now one of the finest warehouses 
in the United States, which is owned by Mr. Barnes, and valued at 
over a quarter of a million of dollars. 

After a time he went back to the country. Like so many of the 
country youth who go to cities, he found it difficult to succeed with- 
out friends and influence. lie had gained considerable experience 
of the world, however, for he was one who kept his eyes and ears 
wide open. At eighteen he took charge of a country store, of which 
he became the proprietor two years later. When twenty-two he 
embarked as a wholesale merchant in the city of New York. Dur- 
ing these years he supported a widowed mother, and half brothers 
and sisters by her subsequent marriage. These cares, however, 
instead of weakening his resolution and resources, seemed to add to 
them. He said " !N^ow is the time they need assistance, at another 
time it will be too late ; I can wait, they shall not." Kefraining from 
all expensive luxuries, sleeping upon his own counter, eating but 
two meals a day, working eighteen hours out of the twenty-four, he 
toiled with an energy and directness of purpose that secured the full 
realization of all his plans. Those dependent upon him were all 
cared for, his sisters were educated, and at the same time he accu- 
mulated wealth in a most remarkable manner. He soon became 
recognized as one of the leading merchants of the world, with houses 
in !New York, San Francisco, l!^ew Oi-leans, and Montreal. 

He also embarked largely in the gold and other mineral interests 
of the Western States, and was elected president of several mining 
companies. This was in 1863, before the Pacific Railroad was com- 
menced, and little was really known on which to form opinions re- 
garding prospective results. When it was proposed to sell stock of 
the companies in which he was interested, he refused to do it with- 
out a more exact knowledge, fearing that innocent persons might 
be injured. In 18G5, he undertook the arduous task of visiting the 
mines of Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California. With character- 
istic promptness he stepped into a wagon at Atchison, and crossed 
the continent, making such examinations as were necessai-y. He 

670 



HON. DEMAS BARNES. 3 

remained in San Francisco only three days, and returned home by 
way of Panama. While absent lie corresponded with the local 
press at home. The letters were afterward compiled, and pub- 
lished in book form, under the title of " From the Atlantic to the 
Pacific Overland." 

He early became a prominent member of the Chamber of Com- 
merce in the city of New York and a director of many financial 
and benevolent institutions. 

Mr. Barnes had been ever alive to his want of education, and lost 
no time which could be consistently taken from his busy pursuits-, 
to store his mind with literary culture. His education when a boy 
had been limited to the district school. He regards a thorongli 
scholastic training as of infinitely more value than the possession 
of wealth, and often thus expresses himself. The result of his en- 
ergy in this direction has largely supplied his earlj^ deficiency. 
His quick perceptions, clear and comprehensive observation, have 
also brought him a goodly store of knowledge, to which has been 
added much judicious reading. His practical contributions to the 
press npon various subjects, and addresses before schools, societies, 
and institutions secured for him the title of LL.D, from one of the 
Western universities. 

In 18G4:, he was nominated for Congress in one of the Brooklyn 
districts, but declined. At the next election, in 18G6, he accepted 
the nomination, and was elected by the largest majority ever ob- 
tained in his district. As a member of the Fortieth Congress he 
was placed upon the impoi-tant Committees of Banking and Cur- 
rency, and of Education and Labor. 

Mr. Barnes formed a resolution when commencing life to resign 
active business as soon as he was able to live as he liked, and at 
forty years of age, under any circumstances of favorable fortune. 
He is a real instance of a person keeping his promise in this respect. 
At forty, Mr. Barnes retired from Congress, and from business. He 
felt that the advantages of travel, of social life, of domestic happi- 
ness and quiet with his family, of opportunity to patronize the arts, 

671 



4- HON. DEMAS BARNES. 

to diffuse benevolence, was a far greater pleasure than political 
ambition, or increasing millions at the expense of constant toil and 
domestic separation. 

lie is assisting his city of Brooklyn in building its costly and 
magnificent bridge and elegant Prospect Park. He is also a promi- 
nent and zealous member of its Board of Education, and active in 
all of her benevolent works. Himself and family are now traveling 
in Europe. It is generally understood that whenever he will 
accept the nomination of Mayor of Brooklyn, it is at his disposal, 
and his name is also talked of as a candidate for governor. 

An ardent admirer of Clay and Webster, Mr. Barnes was first a 
Whig. Subsequently he acted with the Eepublican party, and as a 
private citizen resisted the extension of slavery into the Territories. 
On the ground of the sectionalism of the Eepublican party, in 18G0 
he declined to go as a delegate to the Chicago Presidential Conven- 
tion, saying, " I am a citizen — not a politician." The nomination 
of Lincoln and Hamlin filled him with apprehensions of a future 
war, and acting upon his convictions he at once commenced to put 
his business in order. On the 16th of June, 18G0, he closed his 
business with the Cotton States. He was the first merchant in the 
United States wdio refused to do business with the South, except 
for cash, and when the war came, it found him financially prepared. 

His career in Congress was marked by several elaborate and 
eloquent speeches. One of these was in regard to the public fi- 
nances. He had from the first opposed an inflation of the currency. 
But this measure having been forced upon the country, and its 
results becoming incorporated into our financial system, he saw 
disaster in a too rapid contraction. A brief extract from this 
speech, delivered January 11, 1868, will best show his views. He 
said : — 

•'The currency of a country is like the center of a wheel, tlie value of property 
restiijg upon it being the circujnference. We can follow its expansive centrifugal force 
without danger ; but when ihe motion is reversed, and it acts with contracting cen- 
tripetal power it checks the momentum of the financial world. Remove the center, and 
the circumference crumbles with the slightest touch. The conditions of society 

672 



HON. DEMAS BARNES. 5 

accommodate themselves to an expanded currency without '"nterrupiion. They can 
not do so when contraction takes place, for the reason that one sick of the account becomes 
fixed and immovable. As money disappears, values shrink with unequal rapidity, but 
debts remain at their full /ace. A large proportion of our property is represented by 
credits or debts whiuii no legislation can reduce. We have $21,000,000,000 of properly 
represented by $700,000,000 of circulating medium; or three per cent, of money to 
ninety-seven per. cent of confidence and credit. We have a State, municipnl, national, 
and personal indebtedness of over $6,200,000,000. To contract our currency $100,000, 
000 reduces the total value of our property one seventh, or $3,000,000,000. To con- 
tract $300,000,000, as is proposed, would extinguish one half the value of our property, 
and leave our indebtedness wholly unaffected, the end of which is bankruptcy to tlie 
citizens and repudiation by the government. We have inflated the balloon ; wo have 
landed upon a barren island. Instead of undertaking to swim to tlie mainland against 
tides, against winds and currents, I would wait for the friendly craft to insure our safe 
deliverance. We must now wait for the increase of wealth and population to overtake 
our changed condition, and restore us to the specie standard of the world." 

The impeaclimeiit of the President, another of the measures of 
the Fortieth Congress, was opposed by Mr. Barnes as an exti'eme 
party measure and one likely to do great injury to the country. He 
delivered an earnest and practical speech on the subject, character- 
izing the measure as merging the Executive and Legislative Depart- 
jnent into one, inciting the sph'it of retaliation, involving the 
stability of our national bonds, and possibly leading to civil war. 
" As for me " he said, in his impassioned closing, '• if you this day 
impeach the President of the United States upon the evidence now 
hefore us^ I shall consider our liberties less secure, our property less 
valuable, our national honor tarnished, our rights invaded, and the 
future full of woe and untold disaster." 

Mr. Barnes has an erect, well-proportioned figure, and a fine in- 
tellectual head. His features are regular, and the whole face is 
expressive of both force and amiability of character. The brow is 
broad and high, and the eyes are clear and observing. His manners 
are courteous and genial with all persons. As a merchant, public 
man, and citizen, he has stood throughout his career an instance of 
that integrity, enterprise, and usefulness which afford the highest 
example of individual capacity and worth. 
43 673 




Ov/VWJU 




JAMES L. PLIMPTOlSr. 




;W persons in any age have perhaps contributed more 
largely to the rational enjoyment of the nnasses, than has 
the subject of this sketch. In Massachusetts or South 
Carolina, New York or California, in Paris or Australia, or 
wherever else Roller Skating assemblies have been introduced, the 
originator has been justly acknowledged a great public benefactor. 
We are therefore satisfied that our readers will appreciate our 
having gathered together the following facts in reference to one 
whose personal efforts have added so much to public amusement. 

James L. Plimpton was born at Medfield, Massachusetts, April 
14, 1828. In his early youth, it was plainly perceptible, should he 
be allowed to follow his inclinations, that mechanical pursuits— 
and not the calling of a farmer, the occupation of his father — 
would in after years become his choice. Sixteen years upon a 
farm, however, so knit his frame and prepared liis constitution 
as to withstand the great mental and physical labor he has since 
performed. 

When eight 3^ears of age, his parents removed to Walpole, 
Massachusetts. Here the ill health of his father was such that he 
was barely able to plan the farm-work, the most of which was 
executed by James and Henry — an elder brother — each having an 
allotted amount of work to perform in a given number of days. 
The specified tasks having been accomplished, the brothers were 
liberally remunerated for all extra work performed by tliem ; and 
thus they acquired self-reliance, industry, and skill, learning at the 
eame time the importance of religiously observing all contracts and 

675 



2 JAMES L. PLIMPTON. 

agreements, and the true value of money, whereby was hud the 
foundation of much of their present prosperity and success. 

With the capital thus accumulated, Henry devoted himself to 
study becoming eventually a noted school-teacher; James, with 
rapidly developing mechanical ideas, applied his earnings to the 
purchase of tools, chemicals, drafting and philosophical instruments 
and apparatus, useful books on mechanics, arts, etc. A small out- 
building, formerly used for storing corn, served as his combined 
study, work-shop, and laboratory. Here he performed his various 
experiments — here were to be seen specimens of his mechanism, 
and here was the " curiosity shop " of the neighborhood. With his 
turning-lathe, vise, forge, electric machines, batteries, etc., he ex- 
hibited wonders of his own handiwork. 

When at the age of sixteen, young Plimpton left home to serve 
a year in a small machine-shop, in another part of the town, liis 
renown as a mechanical genius had preceded him. Only a few 
months had elapsed in his new sphere, when he was intrusted with 
all the drafting, gear-cutting, and other important work of the es- 
tablishment requiring skill, close calculation, and brain work. 

This year of contracts having expired, he accepted a more lucra- 
tive position in a large machine-shop, at Claremont, Nev/ Hamp- 
shire. Here his great ability, sound judgment, and unassuming 
manners gained for him the confidence and respect of all with 
whom he came in contact; and before his eighteenth birth-day, he 
was promoted to foreman, with over fifty hands under his immedi- 
ate supervision. With his greatly increased earnings, he added 
more useful books to his library, devoting each spare moment to 
assiduous study. Patents and patent laws began at this time to 
claim his particular attention and study ; and to this day he pur- 
sues these subjects with marked interest and pleasure, having 
collected one of the largest and most valuable libraries pertaining 
to such matters owned by any private individual. He has assisted 
as expert and adviser in many important cases, and his aid to 
Stevens, of East Brookfield, in the celebrated infringement suit 

076 



JAMES L. PLIMPTON. 3 

of Hovey vs. Stevens, is a marked instance of liis ability in this 
direction. 

At the age of twenty-one, he associated himself with his brother 
in the business of machine-building at Westfield, Massachusetts, 
and thus over twenty years ago was inaugurated the business firm 
of H. R. & J, L. Plimpton, extensively known for many j^ears past 
as designers, manufacturers, and dealers in fine furniture, decora- 
tions, etc., Henry E.. having charge of the business in Boston, and 
James L. in New York. 

An hour spent at Mr. Plimpton's place of business in New York 
would astonish any one, at the vast amount of jnental labor per- 
formed by him in directing tlie great variety of interests upon 
which he is at present engaged. It is not unusual for him in one 
short hour to act in the capacity of merchant, architect, landlord, 
designer, inventor, legal adviser, cajntalist, financier, etc. In all 
matters he is clear, cautious, and decided, never yielding a princi- 
ple for profit, and never failing to meet an engagement or agree- 
ment — he has always enjoyed tlie confidence and respect of all who 
know him. It would be impossible in this short notice to illustrate 
the various traits of his character or to enumerate the many com- 
plicated machines and original inventions that have emanated 
fron his fertile brain ; we have therefore selected the ones in which 
the public are at present most interested. 

Having improved his health from a season of ice-skating at 
Central Pailc in 1862, it was Mr. Plimpton's desire to continue the 
exercise. Careful investigation fully demonstrated that artifvcial 
ice was a failure for that purpose, and that no roller-skate had ever 
been made, upon which the curved movements of ice skating could 
be performed. Mr. Plimpton in his desire to supply that much- 
needed article, soon produced a roller-skate tliat could l)e guided 
by the will of the wearer, by the natural inclination of tlie body. 
From this simple instrument he has reared one of the most 
popular and beneficial systems of exercise extant, and of which 
it has been justly said, "As Howe's sewing machine is to our 

677 



4 JAMES L. PLIMPTON. 

ladustrial wants, or Morse's telegraph to commercial pursuits, so 
Plimpton's system of exercise is to the social and physical wants of 
society." 

In adapting these great inventions to the requirements of the 
public, though simple in themselves, they have caused their origin- 
ator a vast amount of time, mental labor, and money. 

Having completed the necessary mechanical appliances, Mr. 
Plimpton directed his attention to the development of the new 
field of usefulness to which his invention had given rise. 

By his efforts in 1863 the New York Roller Skating Association 
was organized. This pioneer association has ever since flourished 
in a marked degree, always having been under the immediate su- 
pervision of its distinguished founder. As a popular instructor 
and disciplinarian he is eminently qualified with generosity un- 
equaled, and liberality to a fault, no personal exertion or expense 
is ever for a moment considered, while his friends or the public are 
to be benefited thereby. 

His imposing and beautiful block known as Plimpton's Build- 
ing, in New York, was designed by himself, and erected under 
his own immediate supervision at an outlay of over one hun- 
dred thousand dollars, and built principally for the purpose of hav- 
ing a suitable place in which his favorite hobby could be developed, 
and for the better accomodation of his pet association. In the sum- 
mer of 1866, this association leased the Atlantic House at Newport, 
Rhode Island, converting the large dining-room and piazza into a 
summer skating hall, fitting up the other portions of this spacious and 
fashionable hotel for the accommodation of the association and 
their invited guests; while nothing was left undone for the comfort 
and enjoyment of the members, much pains were also taken by Mr. 
Plimpton in bringing this system of exercise to the notice of the 
educated and refined classes from all parts of the country. The 
city officials, clergy, press, physicians, board of education, teachers, 
and other exemplary citizens of Newport, were elected associate 
members of the association for the season. Invitations were ex- 

678 



JAMES L. PLIMPTON. 5 

tended to the various skating organizations tliroughout the country, 
many of whom sent delegates. Receptions and special entertain- 
ments were also given to many noted visitors, among whom were 
Prince Ouronssoff and Count de Montague, of Russia, Major-General 
Sherman, Major-General Anderson, and other distinguished military 
personages, also officers and members of the New York Yacht Club, 
General Bullock of Massachuetts, Chief Justice Bigelow, and others, 
all of whom appeared truly delighted, and expressed their warmest 
congratulations to Mr. Plimpton for his success in having originated 
a novel, refined, healthful, and amusing exercise of undeniable pub- 
lic utility, and susceptible of participation and enjoyment by both 
ladies and gentlemen, at all seasons of the year. 

Since thus bringing this new system of exercise into public notice, 
Roller Skating assemblies have sprung into existence as if by magic 
in all parts of this country, as well as in Europe, and wherever seen 
it leaves the unmistakable marks of practicability, imparted to it 
by its originator. "We can not illustrate the liberality, or record 
the honors due Mr. Plimpton, in terms more appropiate than by 
giving the following copy of a series of resolutions, presented to him 
by the New York Skating Association at their first meeting after 
returning from Newport. 

At a meeting of the New York Skating Association held at their 
rooms in New York, September 4, 1866, the following resolutions 
were unanimously adopted : — 

" Whereas, Mr. James L. Plimpton, the worthy and most es- 
teemed founder of our association, has presented to us the receipted 
bills for all expenses incurred during our late memorable sojourn 
at Newport, Rhode Island, therefore, 

**2lesolved, That the heartfelt and sincere thanks of this asso- 
ciation are most cordially tendered to Mr. Plimpton for this great 
act of munificence, as well as for many like liberalities heretofore 
received at his hands. 

" Resolved^ That the thanks of this association are further due Mr. 
Plimpton, for his untiring personal exertions, while presiding over 

679 



6 JAMES L. PLIMPTON. 

the assemblies and providing for the comfort and enjoyment of our 
members, associates, and noted guests. 

. ^^ Resolved, That this is a most suitable occasion to acknowledge our 
high appreciation of Mr. Plimpton's public services, as the origina- 
tor of Circular Roller Skating, and as first to discover, illustrate, 
and make known that skating was a science as well as an art based 
on fixed and undeniable laws, the comprehension of which enables 
U8 to learn with rapidity and to impart instructions in a clear and 
(joncise manner to others. He has devised and established a system 
of reffulatiuffand conductins; this exercise so as to insure at all times 
physical benefit, social improvement, and rational enjoyment. His 
ingenuity, research, enthusiasm, and energy have added another to 
the polite arts, an art as boundless in extent and as beautiful to con- 
template as sculpture or painting, while possessing great social and 
•physical advantages. 

" Resolved., That these resolutions be properly engrossed and pre- 
sented to Mr. Plimpton as a mark of acknowledgment for his ser- 
vices and liberality in our behalf, as well as in behalf of the count- 
less thousands who enjo}'^ the fruits of his genius. And in conclu- 
sion let us assure him that his memory will ever be cherished as tlie 
originator and promoter of a system of exercise and beneficial recre- 
ation, for which refined society will ever owe him grateful remem- 
brances." 

From a host of voluntary acknowledgments by distinguished 
persons we select the following: — 

FiLMORE House, Newport, Aug. 23, 186G. 
James L. Plimpton, Esq.. Snpt. N. T. Skating Association. 

Dear Sir. — I owe you an expression of my sense of your kind invitation of myself 
and friends to the rooms of the Skating: Association hist night; and assure you that 
had we been merely amused witli the novelty of your entertaiuincut in reproducing in 
midsummer what has heretofore been exchisively a winter amusement, we would have 
be'eu completely satisfied with our evening's entertainment. 

But your complete success in establishing not only a novel, but a most agreeable and 
healthful exercise and amusement for ladies and gentlemen, and one which we are 
convinced will be of great public utility, is n subject of congratulation, to be highly 
appreciated. I remain yours, truly, 

T. "W. SHEBJIAN. 

680 



JAMES L. PLIMPTON. Y 

To show that Mr. Plimpton's system of exerc-se, and public ser- 
vices are as highly appreciated at the South as at the North, we 
present the following from one whose reputation is well known, 
both as a physician and learned divine. 

Louisville, Ky., Oct. 8, 1869. 
Major Elias Lawrence, New Orleans, La. : 

Dear Sb% — I am glad to hear you are about to open a hall for Roller Skating iu New 
Orleans. I can not doubt that your enterprise will be crowned with enainent success. 
Nothing in Louisville has ever taken, with all classes of citizens, as Capt. Glover's Hall 
has doue, and nothing ever set on foot for the amusepient and physical improvenient of 
its young people is more worthy of encouragement. Roller Skatiug is just the thing 
wanted by our young people, especially by our girls. It aflbrds just the sort of exercise 
they require for their physical development — gentle but active, and so attractive that 
they can not resist it. It is my deliberate opinion, that no concei)tion has ever entered 
the human mind, in this century, so important to the health of girls, in our cities, as thi.? 
skating within doors. Nothing could exceed it in grace. No sight I have ever beheld 
is so beautiful as the Louisville Rink, with its tastefully dressed young men and girls, 
sailing, swimming, floating through the mazes of the march, as if impelled by magic 
power. The old people as.semble nightly to witness the sight, apparently as much de- 
lighted as their children. All honor, I say, to the originator of Roller Skating. Long 
may hj live. Tiie children will rise up and bless his name. 

Yours truljr, L. P. Yandell, Sr., M. D. 

From the foregoing acknowledgments it is readily seen that Mr. 
Plimpton enjoys an enviable position among the l)oncfactors of the 
age. The unexampled mode by which he has won renown, — the 
public spirit manifested by Itim, together with his charitableness, 
and lavish expenditures, for and in aid of his fellow-men, render him 
a fitting sul)ject for this publication, as one of the progressive and 
Belf-made men of the times. 

681 



HEIl^RY P. DE GRAAF. 




ENRY P. DE GRAAF, one of the prominent merchants 
of New York City, was born at Herkimer, Kew York, on 
the twenty-fourth of November, 1825. His parents were 
formerly residents of Schenectady, and his grandfather was a sterh'ng 
patriot in the war of the Revolution, commanding a regiment in 
that great struggle. 

Until the age of fifteen years, young De Graaf remained at 
home actively employed on his father's farm, performing with 
alacrity and zeal the general work incident to his calling, though 
disinclined to make that a business for a lifetime. 

In the year 1840 he left his home-farm and went to Little Falls, 
N. Y., residing there three years with G. B. Young. During 
this time, he acquired a knowledge of cabinet-making, and worked 
as a journeyman ; after which time he traveled two years, and then 
commenced business for himself. 

Cabinet-making twenty years ago was not so remunerative as 
now, and becoming somewhat dissatisfied -with his slow progress at 
money-making, about the time that the golden charms of California 
allured its tens of thousands in quest of wealth to the far West, 
he disposed of his little business in New York, assisted in forming 
a company, and was chosen treasurer, and afterward embarked for 
the Pacific, on the Henry HarbecJc^ June 8, 1849. 

California was then a far-off land, and not, as now, to be reached 
in a few days by railroad, traveling in palace cars. The bark was 
six months out at sea before reaching San Francisco, and Mr. De 
Graaf, when approaching the Golden Gate that was about to usher 
him into the eldorado of the Pacific shore, found himself destitute 

683 



WILLIAM DIVrPTE. 




,R. WILLIAM DIVINE belongs to that class of self-made 

men, whose history presents an encouraging example to 
aspirants for fortune, by straightforward and legitimate 
enterprise. His father was a manufacturer of linen goods, in the 
county of Tyrone, Ireland, where Mr. Divine was born, in the 
first year of the present century. At an early age he learned the 
linen business with his father, and afterward removed to Belfast, 
where he paid an apprentice fee to learn muslin weaving. In 1822 
he went to Manchester, England, where he was for several years 
engaged in the silk manufacture. 

The Old World, however, did not present sufficient scope and 
encouragement for the exercise of his powers, and in 1827, he re- 
solved upon trying the New. After a tedious passage of twenty- 
one weeks he arrived in New York, where he remained but a few 
days, when he proceeded to Philadelphia, which has since been his 
home. He commenced work on a hand-loom for one dollar per day, 
the average wages of weavers at that period. But in less than a 
month he was able by his superior skill to earn two dollars. He 
was next employed on a broadcloth loom in the " Penn Factory," 
on Twenty-fifth Street, near Spruce, of which he was afterward 
proprietor. By unremitted industry and rigid economy he secured 
sufficient capital, after eleven years spent in the employment of 
others, to procure one set of woolen machines, and, renting a room 
with power, in a mill on Pine Street, near Twentieth, he began the 
manufacture of Kentucky jeans. His intimate and practical ac- 
quaintance with the details of manufacturing gave him advantages, 
his products commanded a ready sale in the markets, and in a few 

687 





^^^ 




GEOEGE P. BEADFOED. 



BY J. ALEXANDER PATTEN. 
MwT i^ '^ot too much to affirm that commerce in the Um' ted 




States has commanded an amount of individual talents equal 
to anj of the liberal professions. If our merchants are not 
scholars, in the absolute meaning of that term, they are certainly 
men whose intelligence and energy would have made them suc- 
cessful in any sphere of human activity. 

England is sometimes sneered at as " a nation of shopkeepers," 
and the United States to a large degree is open to the same desig 
nation. Goldsmith has written : — 

" Where wealth and freedom reign, contentment fails, 
And honor sinks where commerce long prevails." 

But it is mighty commerce, upheld and dii-ected by the mental and 
physical resources of these same merchants, that lias made England 
the powerful and wealthy nation that she is, and this republic one 
of the foremost powers of the earth. Grant that the motive under- 
lying all commerce is gain, still it is trade tliat is the unfailing 
inspiration of enterprise and national progress. Hence the com- 
merce and merchants of all lands are to be considered as among 
the most important agencies for the welfare of men and the gran- 
deur of nations. And in our own country the talents and respect- 
ability of the class of men who have l:)een and are engaged in mer- 
cantile pursuits, are even more conspicuous than elsewhere. 
Throughout our whole history our business enterprise has won 
attention at home and abroad, and the honorable and intelligent 
character of our merchants has been a source of just pride. The 

691 



2 GEORGE P. BRADFORD. 

following biography of one of the former merchants of the city of 
New York will fully illustrate these preliminary remarks. 

George P. Bradford was born at Plainfield in Connecticut. He 
is the son of Henry Bradford, a farmer of that section, and Lois 
Bradford, who was one of the distinguished family of Eaton, of that 
State. On the paternal side he is a descendant of the Puritan 
leader, "William Bradford, who came over in the Mayfloiver^ and is 
described as " strong, bold, and enduring : but withal, a meek and 
prudent Christian." The original settlement of the family was at 
Plymouth, Massachusetts, where they owned a farm. About 1740 
James Bradford, the great-grandfather of the suljject of our notice, 
removed to Connecticut, and settled at Plainfield. On this journey 
he rode on horseback and was guided by blazed trees. At the time 
of the Revolution James Bradford was a member of the Connecticut 
Legislature at Hartford. During the same war Anthony Bradford, 
the grandfather of our subject, was in the American army, and 
was held a prisoner on Long Island for two years. An incident is 
related in regard to these times. After the capture of Burgoyne 
the members of the Connecticut Legislature were allowed to take 
to their homes any of the Hessian jirisoners to do manual labor. 
Mr. James Bradford took one, who on the conclusion of peace de- 
clined to return to Germany, and remained in the family until he 
died — some forty years. The original homestead farm at Plainfield, 
owned by his great-grandfather, is now the property of Mr. George 
P. Bradford. 

Our subject lost his father when only fourteen years of age. 
Before this time he had attended the district school and high 
school, at such periods as he could be spared from the work of the 
farm. There were six children, of which he was the next to the 
oldest. It fell to his lot to take his father's place in the management 
of the farm. He was energetic and shrewd for his age, and had 
stability and judgment. During four years he devoted himself to 
the care of the farm, and then, at the age of eighteen, resumed his 
studies at the high school. This establishment was under the care 

692 



GEORGE P. BRADFORD 3 

of Jolin Witter, an able instructor, of wliom many a successful man 
of this day retains a pleasant memory. After nearly four years of 
study, young Bradford left the high school, to engage in business 
pursuits. His mind had been well trained, and his natural intelli- 
gence and force of character had been not only developed, but 
rendered practical and efficient for active life. 

Going to Fall River, Massachusetts, he entered a store, where he 
remained about a year. He then returned to Plainfield to take a 
clerkship, and subsequently he had a store of his own for a short 
time. But his eyes were turned upon the city of New York, as the 
field in which he desired to labor for business success. Accordingly 
we find him, in 1839, commencing a dry-goods business in New 
York. However, the period was not particularly favorable, and he 
gave up. He passed a considerable time in visiting the South, 
particularly New Orleans, where he had a brother since eminent at 
that bar. 

His business career in New York, strictly speaking, began in 
1845, when the firm of Peck, Bradford & Hichmond was established 
at No. 189 Pearl Street in dry -goods jobbing. At that time nearly 
the entire dry-goods trade was located in Pearl Street, and a dry- 
goods dealer was commonly termed " a Pearl Street man," Five 
years later Mr. Elisha Teck retired from this firm, when it was 
dissolved. Mr. Bradford then went into cloth importing, in a 
strong firm known as Bradford, Heath & Clark. Julius Catlin, 
of Hartford, and Charles Abernethy, of New York, were the 
special partners. A large and profitable business was built up, and 
this connection continued for three years. Then Thomas Hunt 
replaced Catlin and Abernethy as special partner, and the style of 
the firm became Bradford, Hunt & Clark. This house enjoyed a 
first-class reputation for enterprise and credit during the three years 
of its existence. Mr. Bradford now determined to embark in the 
wholesale ready-made clothing business, and, in association with 
Cornelius T. Longstreet, formed the firm of Longstreet, Bradford 
& Co., under which style the business was conducted from 

693 



4: GEORGE P. BEAD FORD. 

December, 1858 to 1865. Their sales amounted to about one mil- 
lion of dollars annually. In the interval stated, however, Mr. 
Longstreet had withdrawn, and his son had taken his place, who 
himself went out in the last named year. After this the firm was 
Bradford, Welles & Co., for a year and a half, when Mr. Welles 
died, and it became George P. Bradford & Co. This firm was in 
existence until the 1st of January, 18T0, when Mr. Bradford retired 
from commercial business. 

It will thus be seen that Mr. Bradford's connection with the dry 
goods, cloth, and clothing branches of trade in New York extended 
over a period of twenty-five years. During this time he passed 
through various seasons of commercial prostration and financial 
embarrassments, but never failed. At the breaking out of the war 
his house had an extensive Southern business, and they lost nearly 
half a million of dollars. But such was his energy and financial 
ability that lie always maintained the credit of his firms, and finally 
retired with wealth. In his business habits during these years he 
was active and untiring. His enterprise and judgment, in which 
he was much aided by his partners, secured a large trade, and gave 
each of his firms a foremost rank in the business in which it was 
engaged. 

He is now the president of the Blees Sewing Machine Company, 
which is located at 623 Broadway, and is manufacturing one of the 
best articles of the kind now offered to the public. The company 
was organized in 1869, and the entire capital stock is owned by 
leading retired or active merchants of New York. The factory is 
on the corner of John and Bridge streets, Brooklyn, and has a 
capacity for producing five hundred sewing machines per week. 
It has four floors, giving a total working space of nine thousand 
square feet. All the machinery is driven by an eighty -horse steam 
engine. The tools and machinery are of the latest and most ap- 
proved description, the probable value of the whole establishment 
being about two hundred thousand dollars. 

Mr. Blecs, the inventor of the machine, is a practical German 

694 



GEORGE P. BRADFORD. 5 

mecbanic, and lias been a sewing-machine expert for over twenty 
years. During the last eight or ten years he has been engaged in 
perfecting this machine, with results which are not less astonishing 
than satisfactory. It is known as the Blees Patent Noiseless Link- 
Motion Sewing Machine, and in mechanical simplicity, and excel- 
lence and variety of work, has great merits. It uses witb equal 
and perfect facility the finest or coarsest silk, linen, and cotton 
thread, and sews with perfect uniformity and fidelity the finest 
fabrics, and the heaviest cloth or leather. Every stitch is precisely 
like all the rest, and perfectly true and even on both sides of the 
work. Even if the seam were cut or torn, it would not ravel, but 
continue its firm hold. The perfect accuracy is owing to the 
peculiar advantages of the Link Motion, which wholly prevents 
the wearing parts of the machine from disturbing the sewing parts. 
Every machine performs, in the most perfect manner, hemming, 
felling, tucking, binding, braiding, cording, quilting, ruffling, and 
gathering. As a leather sewing machine, the Blees Machine is de- 
cidedly without a rival — the best in the world. A new and 
improved family machine,, with drop-feed, has recently been pa- 
tented by the Company, These machines are guaranteed by the 
Company for three years to do all that is claimed for them, it 
directions are followed. 

Satisfied with the peculiar merits of the Blees Machine, both for 
family use and manufactures, Mr. Bradford is devoting his energies 
and experience to its introduction throughout the United States 
and Europe. His broad and comprehensive views of business, 
together with his industry and system, are invaluable in such an 
enterprise alike to the company and its patrons. 

In politics Mr. Bradford has acted with the Republican party, 
and has held the position of President of the Republican Associ- 
ation of the Twenty-Second Ward of New York. He was a mem- 
ber of the Committee on Clothing at the great New York Sanitary 
Pair. He has also been a trustee of the Northwestern Dispensary. 

Mr. Bradford is of good stature, well made, and erect. He showa 

695 



Q GEORGE P. BRADFORD. 

a great deal of activity, and m both mind and body has still the 
force and vitality of his younger years. His manners are polite, 
while his conversation has the point and directness occasioned by 
business method and habits. The examination of his face shows 
you regular features, and an expression which is a blending of sell 
reliance, firmness, and amiability. You readily see that he is one 
who never misunderstands himself, or the motives of others. He 
is an accurate judge of human nature, a keen observer of the 
world's affairs, and an earnest doer of his own work and duty. His 
enlightened character and successful enterprise have given eleva- 
tion and renown to all the walks in which he has been engaged. 
Still in the business harness, and still animated by the same earn- 
estness of brain and will, it is not unwise to conclude that his achieve- 
ments are not yet ended. 

696 



DAYID HOADLET. 




jINCE 1853 Mr. Hoadley has filled the important position of 
President of the Panama Railroad. A man more modest or 
retiring, one who shrinks more from publicity in all its forms, 
it would perhaps be difficult to find, and yet he has filled with 
honor a wide sphere in business circles, and deservedly enjoys the 
respect and confidence not alone of the company he represents, 
but also of the entire commercial community. He is eminently so- 
cial and genial in his intercourse with other people, affable and pol- 
ished in his manners. He was born at Waterbury, in Connecticut, 
in 1806, and is now, therefore, sixty -four years of age. He was ed- 
ucated as a druggist, in Kew Haven, Conn., and after a while he 
commenced the wholesale drug business in this city at the corner of 
"Water and Wall streets, his store being, curiously enough, diago- 
nally across the street from his present office. In 1835 he went 
to Europe, the very year in which the Hon. Henry Clay asked the 
Senate of the United States to appoint a commissioner to visit the 
different routes on the continent of America best adapted for inter- 
oceanic communication, and report thereon, which was the first step 
taken by Americans in relation to a railroad across the Isthmus of 
Panama. 

Mr. Hoadley returned from Europe, gradually increased and pros- 
pered in his business, finally discontinuing it in 1848. He was Vice- 
President of the American Exchange Bank, and when in 1850 John 
J. Fisk, the cashier, was obliged to go to Havana in consequence 
of ill-health, the directors of the bank asked Mr. Hoadley to take 
his place. In 1851, the president of the bank, Mr. Leavitt, went to 
Europe, leaving Mr. Hoadley acting president. He held this posi- 

697 



2 DAVID HOADLET. 

tion for a year when lie resigned, and visited Europe for the second 
time in 1852, returning to this countryto find the bankhad never ac- 
cepted his resignation. On the 1st of November, 1853, he was in- 
vited to take the place which he has since occupied, as the Presi- 
dent of the Panama Railroad, a position for importance and respon- 
sibility second to none of a similar kind in the world. 

In personal appearance, Mr. Iloadley is a little below the aver- 
age height, a delicately formed and slimly built man. His hair and 
side whiskers are snowy white ; he has a fresh-looking face, and 
deep hazel eyes. He is quick in conversation, expeditious in busi- 
ness, easy in his movements, and seems to have preserved his health 
to a wonderful degree. His office is in the Tontine Building at 
No. 88 Wall Street, and its walls are completely covered with pic- 
tures representing scenes in Panama, and maps, charts, etc., of the 
country. 

A large oil painting executed in 1857, which hangs over tlie mar- 
ble mantel at the upper end of the room, gives to the eye a truthful 
and picturesque scene of the manner in which people were obliged 
to cross the Isthmus before the completion of the railroad. After 
the gold discoveries in 18-18 the Isthmus of Panama swarmed with 
the tide of emigration which surged across it from the United States 
and all parts of the the Old Workl. Traveling on mule back ; in 
light canoes, manned by Indians, negroes, and boatmen of mixed 
blood ; in bamboo chairs on the backs of the natives ; and on foot, — 
the vast procession crossed the almost perpendicular sides of the 
mountains, waded through the deep morasses, defying the swarms 
of troublesome insects, the wild beasts of the forest, the malaria of 
the swamps, the hot suns and drenching rains of tlie climate, intent 
only upon reaching the land of gold ! 

In ancient or modern times there has, perhaps, been no one work 
which in a few brief years has accomplished so much, and which 
promises for the future so great benefit to the commercial interests 
of the world, as the present railroad throroughfare between the 
Atlantic and Pacific oceans, at the Isthmus of Panama. The Old 

698 



DAVID HOADLET. 3 

World liad looked toward the project with longuig eyes, but drew 
back disheartened at the gigantic attempt. The road was left for 
Americans to build, and after overcoming almost insurmountable 
difficulties, collecting laborers from the four quarters of the globe to 
assist them in performing the work — Irishmen, Coolies, Chinamen, 
English, French, Germans, and Austrians, amounting in all to more 
than seven thousand, the last rail was laid on the 27th day of Jan- 
nary, 1855, at midnight, in darkness and rain, and on the following 
day a locomotive passed from ocean to ocean. The entire length 
of the road is 47 miles, 3020 feet, with a maximum grade of 60 feet 
to the mile. The water-ways on the route are no less than 170 in 
number, 36 of which are crossed by bridges ranging from 12 to 625 
feet in length. Up to 1859 the entire cost of the road was eight 
millions of dollars, and the gross earnings for the same time amount- 
ed to $8,147,675, The amount of specie conveyed over this road 
from 1855 to 1867 was over $750,000,000, without the loss of a sin- 
gle dollar ; it has also taken 300,000 mail bags, without the loss 
of a bag. This road connects with eight lines of steamers and four 
lines of sailing vessels, doing the transporting for millions of people. 
The ride along its entire route is one of great beauty and novelty, 
while the healthfulness of the climate has improved to such a degree, 
that it equals our Western States in salubriousness. 

We hope that this wonderful monument of American pluck may 
continue in the hands of our countrymen ; and that Mr. Hoadley 
may be spared to act as its president for a long time to come. 

699 





/-^^^^?<J-^:_-^^^L 




JOHIsT GEEGOEY SMITH. 

BY P. H. GREER 

JMIE present centurj may well be called tbe era of progress 
and of great enterprises. More particularly so, in the 
rapid extension of commerce and civilization by means of 
railways. In this country, especially, has the growth of railroads 
been, within the last twenty years, unprecedented. 

Throughout its vast domain they have been built with a rapidity 
which has excited the wonder and admiration of the world, and in 
their management men distinguished for intellectual capacity and 
great executive ability are employed. Prominently among the 
great railroad managers, stands the subject of this sketch. 

John Gregory Smith was born in the village of St. Albans, 
Yermont, on the 22d day of July, 1818. 

His fatlier, John Smith, was one of the most influential men in 
the State; a lawyer by profession, he was from the beginning 
identified with the railway interests of Yermont. He had repre- 
sented his district in Congress, and at the time of his death, which 
occurred in 1858, was one of the trustees and managers of the 
Yermont Central, and V^ermont and Canada Railroads. 

John Gregory, his eldest son, graduated at the University of 
Yermont, and studied law at the New Haven Law School. 

At the age of twenty-three he began the practice of law in com- 
pany with his father, and continued in the profession, earning the 
reputation of an able and successful lawyer, until, at his father's 
death, he was appointed by the Chancellor to fill the vacancy thus 
created. 

The alFairs of the Yermont Central Railroad were at that time 
in a most deplorable condition, the stock worthless, the secunticii 

701 



2 JOHN GREGORY SMITH. 

of the company nearly so; its credit gone, tbe equipment almost 
worn out, and the road-bed almost entirely unserviceable ; in fact, 
the friends of the road had, for the most part, given the whole 
enterprise up in despair. 

Upon Mr. Smith's assuming the control of the road, the condi- 
tion of affairs began to improve. By his far-sightedness and good 
judgment, his indomitable energy and perseverance, and, above 
all, by his rare executive ability, the improvement of the road 
steadily progressed. The maze of intricate litigation and legis- 
lation which had hitherto hampered and embarrassed every move- 
ment, was unraveled and adjusted, until the road now stands in the 
position of the foremost railroad of ISTew England, and second to 
none in the country for general equipment. 

The earnings of the road, from being barely sufficient to pay the 
running expenses, have reached the ligure of more than two mil- 
lions of dollars. 

He was elected to the State Senate in the j^ears of 1858 and 
1869, and represented his town the three years following; the last 
of which, 1862, he was made speaker of the House. The year 
following, he was called to the gubernatorial chair, which he filled 
through two terms of office. This was during the darkest period 
of our great civil war, when the resources of the whole nation 
were taxed to the utmost. 

The same untiring zeal and energy which he had before displayed 
be infused into his administration of State affairs. 

The calls of the general government for troops were always 
promptly met, and the men, fully armed and equipped, were 
in the field on time. The full quota of the State was always tilled 
without delay, and though the agricultural population of the State 
made it particularly severe, yet not 2^, paper man was ever returned, 
or a State draft necessary. 

No troops in the whole army were more thoroughly equipped or 
sent into the field in better condition than were the Yermont 
troops under Governor Smith's administration; and the late 

ro2 



JOHN GREGORY SMITH. 3 

lamented Secretary of "War, Edwin M. Stanton, often remarked, 
that he had less trouble witli the Vermont troops, than those of any 
other State. 

Nor did Governor Smith, through all the pressing and onerous 
duties entailed by the requisitions of the War Department and the 
many complications of the railroads, forget or neglect the indus- 
trial, educational, or agricultural interests of his State, but all 
were promoted and benefited in a large degree. 

During the campaign of General Grant from Culpepper to 
Petersburg, upon the first intelligence of the great battles of the 
Wilderness and Spottsylvania, Governor Smith, with a full and 
efficient corps of surgeons, proceeded at once to the field, and there 
with them labored night and day, sparing neither his private means 
nor personal comfort, till the last Vermont soldier who was sick or 
wounded was well cared for, furloughs obtained, and all who could 
be moved sent home to Vermont. 

It was during his term of ofhce as chief magistrate, that the 
famous St. Albans raid occurred, and then was shown his peculiar 
diplomatic power, his quick perception and controlling influence 
over men, in liealing over and preventing the open rupture which 
was 80 nearly made by an exasperated people on the one side, and 
the Canadian government on the other. It was through his exer- 
tions that the partial payment by the Canadian government to the 
banks which had sufiered by the raiders was nuide. 

Soon after the close of his second term as chief executive, he 
was solicited by Governor Dillingham to fill the vacancy in the 
United States Senate, occasioned by the death of the Hon. 
Solomon Foote, which lionor he declined; and again, at the suc- 
ceeding election, he was urged to accept the same oflice at the 
hands of his fellow-citizens, but again declined. 

In 1866 Governor Smith was solicited by the grantees of the 
Northern Pacific Pailrdad to accept the Presidency of that road. 
A charter, with the right of way from tlie head of Lake Superior 
to Puget Sound on the Pacific coast, with a liberal grant of land, 

703 



4 JOHN GREaORY SMITH. 

had been obtained from the government in 1864, but there being no 
governmental aid of money, and the attention of capitalists being 
absorbed by the great struggle of the nation for its life, the affairs 
of the company had fallen into a desperate state. But becoming 
convinced that tlie enterprise had in it all the essential elements of 
success, and that it was destined to be ultimately a great througli 
line to the Pacific coast, he accepted the position of President. 

Upon failure to get further aid from Congress, his associates, one 
after another, discouraged by the magnitude of the enterprise and 
the difficulty of obtaining the amount of money necessary to com- 
plete two thousand miles of railroad through an almost unbroken 
wilderness, withdrew, leaving him almost entirely alone, with the 
whole burden of debt upon his shoulders. Nothing daunted by 
the delay, nor disheartened by the prospect, with that energy of 
purpose and fertility of resource for which he is so noted, he at 
once set about forming a new and more powerful combination. 
For a long period he carried the debt, the responsibility, the bur- 
den, unflinchingly ; interested and got into his board of directors, 
the best railroad talent the country afforded, and the men of the 
largest capital; and now, with new life and vigor, one of the 
greatest enterprises of modern days is being pushed forward to an 
early completion ; and it will be but a short time before the 
governor will enjoy the fruition of his constancy, courage, and 
perseverance. 

At the age of twenty-five he married Miss Ann Eliza Brainerd, 
of St. Albans, which was one of the happiest of unions. She has 
made him a most accomplished and affectionate wife, in every way 
worthy of the man. He has five children, two sons and three 
daughters. His domestic relations are remarkably happy. He 
has a beautiful home, and few enjoy home comforts so well as he. 

In person the governor is about the medium height, firmly and 
compactly built, and capable of enduring the greatest fatigue; and 
has long had the reputation of being the hardest- working man in 
Vermont. His manners are peculiarly genial and simple, and no 

T04 



JOHN GREGORY SMITH. 5 

one, not even tlie lowest employee on any of Lis roads, is ever 
refused a full hearing. His purse is always open to the needy, 
and his assistance always afforded to the oppressed. 

His distinguishing characteristics are — most indomitable energy ; 
rare tact in the management of men; far-sightedness; a cool, dis- 
passionate judgment which seldom errs; liberality; warm, open- 
hearted hospitality ; and an integrity which even his most bitter 
enemies have never impeached. 

Governor Smith, in his public and private life, may be truly re- 
garded as one of New England's representative men. He has, at his 
command, a generous fund of useful knowledge, and has rarely been 
at fault in his judgment of others, ,or in his estimate of important 
measures, whether connected with his official or his business career. 
Never backward in asserting his principles, he is willing to defer 
to tlie opinions of others. With a retentive memory for facts and 
details, a keen perception of affairs, and quick reasoning powers, 
he arrives at mental conclusions by patient mental labor. In social 
life he is unreserved in his conversation, warm in his friendship, and 
cordial in his intercourse with all. 
45 705 




% 




P^ylAy/fb 



MELVILLE CLAYTOI^ SMITH. 



^^'^ELYILLE C. SMITH is an excellent representative of 

'\M^^ the highest tj^pe of American cliaracter, possessing, in an 

eminent degree, the dash, boldness, and persistency, Avith 

the clearness of perception, and freedom and scope of thought, 

which characterize our progressive people. 

To the careful observer and thoughtful student of character, the 
inherent elements of one's nature— "•the elements and essences of 
the soul " — are of far deeper interest and significance than the mere 
incidents that pertain to the circumstances and experiences of life. 
The furnier are fixed and eternal — the latter incidental and tran- 
sitory. The quality of the organization, the power of the mental, 
moral, and other faculties, constitute the real man. These are the 
elements that produce and individualize the infinite variety of the 
human family, and are tlie sure landmarks and true indices of real 
ability and genuine human greatness. 

Therefore these innate qualities become of the first importance, 

and to their analysis we shall devote a portion of this bi'ief sketch 

of Mr. Smith, even at the expense of omitting many interesting and 

significant incidents of his life. And in tliis connection we take 

pleasure in inserting, as nu)re complete than anything we could 

liope to write, a description of Mr. Smith, by Prof. O. S. Fowler, 

the most celebrated phrenologist and delineator of character living. 

We submit this description with confidence that its general accuracy 

will commend it to the approval of those knowing Mr. Smith ; and 

written, as it was, after the professor had enjoyed his intimate 

acquaintance for years, it must be accepted by all as combining tiit 

advantages of science with a thorough knowledge of the facts. 

707 



2 MELVILLE C. SMITH. 

The following is the description referred to, given at Washing- 
ton, D. C, March, 1863 :— 

This gentlemaa has a brain both very large in size and first best in quality, and an ex- 
cellent temperament combined with a good physiology, and these conditions confer on 
him a very high order of mental efficiency and capacity. 

His lungs are large and his health ought to be very good. His muscular system is 
excellent, but the nervous is better, indeed among the very best, and this throws an 
immense amount of action upon his muscles, which renders him very strong, and also 
spry, and enables him to out-hft and out-wrestle most men. He is descended from a 
very long-lived stock ; has more inherent life-force and a stronger clasp on life than 
one in many thousands, and is not only capable of living to a great age, but of becoming 
stronger and more heulthy as he grows older. Such power to withstand disease, such 
recuperative energy, seldom comes under my observation. 

He has really prodigious combativeness — I scarcely ever find this organ as large, and 
this drives him ahead like a perfect steamboat. He can put as much pressure into his 
efforts as almost any man living. Is bound to conquer, and the greater the opposition 
the more determinedly he resists. Has great martial courage, and would fight like a 
perfect hero ; first, would lay his plans wisely, but execute with a boldness and vigor 
which would seem reckless, but which would be the height of prudence. 

He is great in debate. In this respect few equal him, because such prodigious 
combativeness, prodigious reasoning organs, and so large and fine a frontal lobe, 
are rarely found combined. His natural talents are of the highest order. Ho is one 
of the deepest thinkers, most profound and comprehensive in the views he takes of 
men and things, and comprehensive in his plans. He surveys the whole field, and 
Bcans all its conditions, and makes allowances for all possible contingencies in tiie Aery 
start. Calculates ultimate effects or results with a certainty and minuteness altogether 
remarkable, and may rely on his own judgment as well-nigh infallible; first, because 
his perceptions and memory grasp all the conditions which enter into a complete de- 
cision, and because his very large reasoning organs sum them all up, and jump from 
premise to conclusion at one bo>md, and correctly. 

His memory is extraordinary. Is one in tens of thousands for collecting all the 
facts which bear on any given subject. He never forgets any thing which he ever 
knew, or which he intends to use or do. Is first-best in history, as far as he has 
studied. Is exceedingly fond of trying experiments, but collects facts mainly in order 
to deduce conclusions therefrom. He reasons clearly and boldly from causes to effects, 
and equally well from effects to causes, and it is this combination of both kinds of rea- 
soning which gives to his intellect a superiority which hardly one in an age possesses in 
an equal degree. Tlie combination is remarkable of so much memory of facts — so much 
causality and comparison united with as fine a grained temperament. 

His language is good, but far from equal to the complete expression of his ideas, 
and, with practice, I think he would write even better than speak — especially write a 
labored article — one requiring comprehensiveness of tliought and clearness of exposition 
— better than almost any other man. Would be just the one to write a President's 
Message ; and is a real statesman, and no mistake ; not a small or large politician, but 
a genuine otatesnian, in the full sense of that term, namely: perceiving those great first 
principles on the application of which a nation's good depends. Reasons clearly and 
boldly on the human mind, its faculties and laws, and could compose a work on mental 
philosophy gTeatly in advance of all others. To all tliese ho adds a quick, clear, prac- 

708 



MELVILLE C. SMITH. 3 

tical iusiyht into hiimnn nature, and can read character by instinct, and always correctly. 
He has an agreeable mode of approaching men, knowing just where and how to take 
them, how to convince their reason and win tlieir good feelings, and tlius bring tJiem 
over to his side. 

Has an accurate architectural eye, first-rate balancing powers, and is a natural 
sharp-shooter. Is methodical and systematic, and cannot rest unless eveiy single 
thing is in place. Has first-rate mechanical ingenuity, and takes a lively interest in 
mechanical contrivances, inventions, and the like, and could make them if occasion re- 
quired. Ought, by all manner of means, to be in the world of mind instead of the 
world of commerce. Is well adapted to make money, and to drive large bargains, but 
not particularly close or economical in liitle matters. Is more especially adapted to 
large operations and sums, and would make money by tens of thousands rather than by 
driblets. 

Has the utmost of cautiousness. Is a little given to procrastination in the start ; 
but once committed, and the pre-provisions made, his firmness and energy are extraor- 
dinary. Is not revengeful ; but his destructiveness is — as are all his passions — under 
the control of conscience, so that he rarely becomes indignant, yet his indignation once 
aroused, is aroused forever, because aroused by injustice, so that he is implacible, ex- 
cept the one who lias ofiended ninkes ample reparation and restoration. His indii^na- 
tiou is not of the fretful, flashy kind, but is the deeper and more inexorable, because 
under the control of his higher faculties, especially conscience. Ambition is one of his 
strongest faculties, and runs in the line of intellectual and moral excellence. 

He lacks self-confidence, and sliould cultivate a dignified trust in his own powers. 
Has, however, that kind of self-trust which comes from ihe intellect — from a reflective 
consciousness of his capacities and the correctness of his own reasoning faculties, but 
uot the self-trust of self-esteem itself. Has, however, an uncommonly good address, 
because commingling a fair .share of deference and courtesy, and a larger share of 
agreeableness, with a firmness and style of manners which both command respect and 
win confidence. 

His social affections are hearty. Is pre-eminently companionable, and really 
a warm, hearty, true friend. Is fond of home and place, and every way calculated to 
enjoy home. Is very fond of children and manages them well. Is capable of the very 
highest order of a genuine, whole-souled, conjugal love. Is highly appreciative of the 
other sex, especially of personal beauty, yet still more of mental and moral superiority, 
and can never tolerate anything coarse or descending in woman. 

Has a high order of worship of the Deity, but scarcely any faith, so that he will 
adore and worship ten times more in the economies of nature than by virtue of any spe- 
cific creed or form. Would place his religion much more in a right life, in doing right 
and doing good, than in ceremonial observances. Has really boundless benevolence, 
and is heartily interested in whatever promises to promote human weal — liable to be a 
little too generous, and wherein he has a show of closeness, it is due to conscientiousness 
rather than love of dollars. I regard conscientiousness as one of his largest organs. 
His motives are unimpeachable. He would stand irreproachable for fulfilling every 
promise, for doing his duty, for living a right life, and on no account be guilty of any- 
thing dishonorable or wrong. 

Has a really glowing imagination, a high order of taste, and love of the beautiful 
and perfect, but a still higher order of love for the grand and sublime, of mountain 
scenery, of tlie vast and infinite, an element he imparts to all he says and does. Is a 
perfect mimic, acts out to the very life, has much natural expressiveness in his manner, 

709 



4;' MELYILLE C. SMITH. 

torifcf!, looks, attitude, gesture, everything, and a large sliare of the truly oratorical. 
Tells a story to the very life, and acts it out perfectly. Can tell more stories, and those 
better and more appropriate than any of his peers, and so as to make a very stoic 
burst with laughter. I never find such luirthfalucss, imitation, comparison, and causality 
united. 

Has a natural talent for reasoning ou theology, on the Divine existence, character, 
and government, on human rights and duties. His views are rarely equalled by any 
man, partly because so correct, and also because expressed so remarkably clear, and 
sustained wiih such supoiior logical ability. Is a natural logician as well as metaphysi- 
cian. Has a great profundity iu moral and philosophiciU reasonings, investigations, and 
disquisitions. Should write a volume on Natural Theology, another on Political Econ- 
omy and Government, another on Phrenology , and a fourth on Mental Philosophy. 

Debate, stating and answering objections, retort, arguing by ridicule, the mingling 
of wit. souse, logic, imagination, and mimicry, undoubtedly constitute his great intellect- 
ual forte. If circumstances are favorable, he is certain to stand right out as one of the 
most noted and really greatest of men, and to wield a more commanding influence over 
'the public mind than any other man of his day and generation. 

Melville C. Smith was bom at Litchfield, Herkimer County, New 
York, October S, 1S33. The farm-house, which was the place of 
his birth, continued to be the family residence, and in the main his 
home, until he arrived of age. His father, James S. Smith, was a 
man of unusual natural powers, and of great industry and enter- 
prise, owning at different times most of the farms for a mile or 
more on the street where he resided. These purchases were made 
quite as much to afford homes and business for relatives and friends 
as for speculative purposes — an act of enterprise and benevolence 
which, owing to the great depreciation of real estate in '37, came 
near costing him the whole of his hard-earned means. He died a 
few years later, at the early age of 44, of inflammatory disease, 
superinduced by overv/ork, — the brief illness of ten days which 
preceded his death being the only sickness of his whole life. The 
subject of this sketch was then only eleven years of age. His 
mother, Mrs, Julia Smith, succeeded to the management of the 
estate. Most of the land was sold, and the remaining debts incur- 
red from the effects of the crisis of '37 were settled, leaving the 
family in possession of the homestead of some two hundred acres. 
The business-like ability shown by Mrs. Smith was the subject of 
frequent commendation, and she was not less known for her taste 

and refinement than for her good judgment. She is still living, and 

710 



MELVILLE C. SMITH. 5 

resides with lier two older sons in Iowa, both of whom are men of 
wealth and position. Melville inherited the strong physical organi- 
zation characteristic of the familj connections on both sides, and, 
while a boj, was foremost in all athletic sports. He was, however, 
still more noted for the versatility of his talents, especially for his 
remarkably retentive memory, powers of argument, and ability 
to reason. 

After obtaining a thorough common-school education, he attended 
the liigh-school in Ontario County, and also for two years at Clin- 
•ton Liberal Institute, in Oneida County. When seventeen years of 
age he was engaged as teacher, and spent most of his time until 
twenty in teaching and as a student, working during vacations on 
the farm. In whatever he undertook he showed the same persist- 
ency and earnestness of purpose, which have marked all his subse- 
quent elForts, being alike noted for his ease and proficiency in 
learning, and ability to perform a large amount of the severest 
physical labor. There are many incidents illustrative of these 
traits which are necessarily omitted in this brief sketch. 

As a boy he was modest, almost to bashfulness, except when 
called out by opposition or unusual circumstances, and then his 
great powers of resistance and independence of character became 
at once manifest in a remarkable degree. When only sixteen 
years of age, and while a student at Clinton, there was a series 
of revival meetings in the Baptist Church, which were largely at- 
tended by the students from the Institute and from Hamilton Col- 
lege. The eccentricities — to call them by no harsher term — of 
the minister officiating, involved liim in several serious complica- 
tions with the students and others, and one evening during his 
discourse he unwittingly, or perhaps as the result of chagrin, — 
because a few evenings previously Mr. Smith, in answering certain 
questions at his special request, completely refuted the positions he 
had assumed in his discourse, — made so unwarranted a personal 
attack, that Mr. Smith took the floor in his own vindication. The 

church being filled mainly with friends of the minister, at first the 

711 



Q MELVILLE C. SMITH. 

feeling toward Mr. Smith was anything but favorable, but after he 
had spoken a short time, so eloquent and convincing were his 
remarks, that the minister descended from the pulpit, and proffer- 
ing his hand, apologized for his conduct towards him ; and the 
trustees of the church arose in the audience and publicly acknow- 
ledged that Mr. Smith's conduct had been marked with perfect 
decorum, expressing great regret at the uncalled-for remarks of 
their minister, which had necessitated and entirely justified Mr. 
Smith's vindication. 

On another occasion he had a conversation with a number of young 
friends, who, like himself, were greatly interested in religious inves- 
tigations, and at their urgent request finally consented to publicly 
discuss certain theological questions with two prominent ministers, 
who, at the time, were holding revival meetings in their respective 
churches. The discussions were continued for several evenino;s, and 
the church in which they were held was filled to overflowing. The 
speeches made by Mr. Smith were remarkable for their force and 
comprehensiveness of thought and statement. They were made en- 
tirely without notes, and showed in a striking manner his Avonderful 
memory and powers of concentration. Some person expressing sur- 
prise at the number and accuracy of his scriptural and other quota- 
tions, and as to " where he kept them," was answered by another, 
''Any one seeing that forehead could easily tell." At the commence- 
ment of the discussion a majority of the audience could not certainly 
have been regarded as predisposed in his favor on the questions at is- 
sue, but such were his powers of persuasion and argument that on the 
third evening one of the three moderators selected to preside, and 
who sympathized with the views of the ministers, protested against 
a continuation of the debate, giving as his reason " that the sympa- 
thies of the audience had become so entirely with Mr. Smith, it was 
not a fair tribunal before which to continue the discussion ; that 
while the strongest arguments and most eloquent appeals made by 
his ministerial friends fell upon apparently deaf ears, even a com- 
monplace remark made by Mr. Smith was received with the most 

Y12 



MELVILLE C. SMITH. 7 

rapturous applause." As showing Mr. Smith's consistency and 
power of restraint over an intense nature, it may be added that 
during this protracted and somewhat excited discussion, and on 
questions the most likely to create feeling and prejudice, he not 
only secured the approval of the audience, but so won upon the 
respect and coniidence of his clerical opponents that he was strongly 
urged to speak in the church in which one of them officiated. This 
invitation he accepted, and such was the interest to hear him, that, 
although the night was one of the most inclement of the winter, 
the church was more crowded than at any previous time since its 
dedication. 

Another illustration of his powers of debate and over an audi- 
ence occurred when, during the second evening of an exciting 
discussion, an aged Quaker arose in the audience and said, 
"Mr. Moderators, I don't think the continuation of this discussion 
will in any way alter the final result. I am as confident now as 
when the debate first commenced, that those with whom I sympa- 
thize are right, and my young friend wrong; but he has such 
powers of speech — such a peculiar knack of making white look 
black, and black white, that I have no idea my friends would gain 
your decision should the discussion be continued a week!" The 
result and decision were such as might be imagined under the 
circumstances. 

The characteristics manifested in the instances given are, doubt- 
less, among the strongest possessed by Mr, Smith, and, as will be 
subsequently noticed, have shown themselves in a degree indicating 
that when he enters those channels of life which call for their more 
general exercise, they will insure him great prominence and influ- 
ence. 

When the subject of this sketch was twenty-one years of age, he 
went to Minnesota and stopped for a time at Eed Wing, taking only 
some twelve hundred dollars, the amount which came to him 
through the sale of the homestead. His energy and sobriety at 
once attracted the attention and inspired the confidence of the 

713 



8 MELVILLE C. SMITH. 

town proprietors, who, to induce liiiri to remain, deeded him a large 
amoimt of property on desirable terms, taking no other security 
than his individual note. Although he remained there only a few 
months, he was during that time chosen delegate to the State Con- 
vention, and nominated with great unanimity for the Legislature, 
which nomination, owing to business reasons and his intention to 
settle in Minneapolis, he declined. The Minnesota Tirnes of St. Paul 
thus comments : — 

"Goodhue County has put in nomination some excellent Republicans. Melville C. 
Smith, Esq., who received the votes of the Convention, and declined in favor of Dodge 
County, in consequence of the probability of his removing to Minneapolis, is a yount,' 
man of fine talents, and an earnest vi'orker in the good cause. Although but a short 
time in the State, Mr. Smith has won the regards of his fellow-citizens by liis straiglit- 
forward and upright course." 

His promptness in all iinancial matters enabled him to get from 
the merchants, funds they were liable to require on an hour's no- 
tice to pay for goods brought by steamers to the landing; and this 
confidence on the part of business men, enabled him to make ex- 
tensive purchases of land at the Government sales, whicli by care 
and discretion in selecting, he I'eadily disposed of at greatly 
advanced prices, and within two years from his arrival in the State, 
he owned property valued at fift}^ thousand dollars above his obli- 
gations. At this period came the terrible financial crisis of '57, 
which was especially severe in its effects in the new States of the 
northwest. Parties owing him large amounts failed, and the real 
estate securities depreciated almost to nothing. Nearly all parties 
engaged in speculations failed, but Mr. Smith was one among the 
few who discharged all obligations and still retains the property he 
then owned. Although it required a struggle of years, and a pay- 
ment of many thousand dollars of the exorbitant rates of interest 
which prevailed in that section at the time, he met and paid all in 
full, and, as indicative of his fairness, discretion, and management, 
with all his varied business experiences, has never as yet had a suit 
at law. 1^0 man could be more scrupulously just or have a more 
delicate sense of honor in his business relations. When the finan 

714 



MELYILLEC. SMITH. 9 

cial crisis of '57 first broke upon the country, lie liad considerable 
sums of money wliicli liad been forwarded to bira by friends from 
the East, who had no obligation for the indebtedness. His first 
act was to secure these claims by mortgages covering his entire 
property, 

' Mr. Smith is liberal but earnest in his religious views, and is, 
from principle, a pi'actical temperance man, never having drank 
even so much as a glass of wine. In politics he has always been 
an ardent Kepublioan, even so far back as '48 taking an active in- 
terest in the free-soil campaign. lie also took part in the canvass of 
1852, and has spoken more or less in all subsequent presidential 
campaigns. 

For several years previous to 1863 his business interests had 
kept him much of the time in the East, and about this period, 
having property in the beautiful town of Lake City, on the Missis- 
sippi River, he was induced to change his residence from Minneapolis 
to that place, of which the State Atlas spoke as follows : — 

" Going to Lake Citt. — We learn with regret that our old friend and fellow-towng- 
nian, Melville C. Smith, iisq., has decided to remove to Lake City with the view of 
taking up a permanent residence in that place. 

"Mr. Smith was one of tlie early settlers of this place, coming here in 1855, and has 
always been among the mo.«t active and watchfid in looking after the welfare of Min- 
neapolis, not only in the matter of our material intere.sts, but in all things pertaining 
to the well-being of our comnuinity. 

'' While, tliercfore, we regret to lose Mr. Smith as one of our residents, we can but 
congratulate our sister county, Wabasha, upon the acquisition of a citizen who will 
contribute so largely to her local interests, and in bidding ' M. C ' good-bye ' we most 
heartily wish him that success and prosperity which his enterprise, sound sense, and 
stimch integrity of character so richly merit." 

Business detained him in the East most of the following year, 
and he returned to Lake City the latter part of July, 1864, having 
very few other acquaintances than three or four prominent citizens, 
who years previously, while attending court at Red Wing, heard him 
deliver an address on temperance, and from that time became his 
steadfast friends. These, notwithstanding his brief residence, urged 
that he should allow the use of his name for the position of state 
senator, and, to carry out their wishes, bespoke at the Congressionid 

715 



IQ MELVILLE C. SMITH. 

Convention, and sucli was the entuusiasm he created, that he was 
urgently solicited to speak at all the principal towns in the District. 
This he did, and although the Senatorial Convention met in little 
over thirty days from the time of his return to Lake City, he had 
attained a degree of popularity, which resulted in his unanimous 
nomination, on which The Lake City Leader thus commented : — 

" Melville C. Smith, Esq., of this place, the nominee for Senator, is a young mau of 
irreproachable cliaracter, superior business quahficalions, and of rare ability, both 
as a thinker and speaker. We predict that in our coming Legislature, which promises 
to be one of unusual strength, he will have no superior. Indeed, his pre-eminent fitness 
for the position was so apparent to all, that notwitlistanding he has been a resident of 
cm- county but little more than a year, he was the unanimous choice of the Convention 
without a single dissenting voice. He is every way worthy both the confidence and 
lionor." 

At the election which followed, he ran ahead of his ticket, re- 
ceiving nearly twice as many votes as his opponent. As Senator, 
though by far the youngest member of that body, he took a promi- 
nent position, and his speeches — one of which was on changing the 
State Constitution to extend the right of suffrage — were the only 
ones of the session printed in the daily papers. He took a leading 
part in securing and locating the Mississippi Yalley Railroad, re- 
quiring its construction through the principal towns of his district. 

The conspicuous position which he attained, directed the atten- 
tion of the leading men of his party to him as the most suitable 
and available candidate for Congress. As indicative of this popu- 
larity, we submit a few, from among numerous letters received by 
him from the most prominent Republicans in his Congressional 
District and the State. 

"U. S. Laot) Office, Minneapolis^ Minn., July 25, 1865. 
" Fkiend SinTH ; — 

" I am told that you think of leaving the State, with a view of going into business in 
New York. I am very sorry, for I had hoped yoii would remain here, and allow the 
use of your name for Congress. Should you conclude to do this, I have no doubt, as I 
mentioned to you last winter, that you would be nominated, and, of course, elected. I 
am satisfied you are the choice of the people. * * * * 

V " Your steadfast friend, 

"Dana E. Kino, 
" Hon. M. C. Smith, Lake City, Minn." 

716 



MELVILLE C. SMITH. . H 

""Winona, Minnesota, Aujcust 1, 18C5. 
" Hon. M. C- Smith : — 

^^ My dear Friend, — How long do you propose remaining at Minneapolis? I expect 
to go there soon, and would be glad to have a little talk with you. 

"Many of your friends seem anxious you should become a candidate for Congress, 
and I have assured those wIid have spoken to me, that both you and they would have 
my best wishes and most hearty co-operation. My friend T. says you have different 
arrangements in view, and expresses fears that you would not consent to take the field. 
As, however, it is more satisfactory to talk over such matters, I will simply say that I 
shall be glad to do all la my power to forward your wishes, and that I hope you will 
not decide to leave our State until after I have seen you. 

" Your friend, 

" Wm. Windom, 
" (present U. S. Senator.)" 



' "U. S. Land Office, St. Peter, August 8, 1865. 
'Dhar Smith: — 

****** 
■ " Since I saw you I have been to Lake City and through various parts of the State, 
and I am even more fully satisfied than before that your leaving would cause universal 
regret ; and I know, should you remain, that there is no position in the gift of the people 
you could not attain — Congressman, Governor, or U. S. Senator. 

" I have before given what I think must be satisfactory reasons for this opinion. I 
now simply present the facts without argument for your consideration and decision. 
It seems a great opportunity for a 3'oung man to allow to pass ; still, I appreciate tlie 
strong reasons you gave for a different course, and assuredly have all confidence in 
your discretion and judgment, and shall try and feel satisfied with your final decision 
whatever it may be. 

" I remain, as ever, your true friend, 

"A. TlBBETTS. 

"To Hon. M. C. Smith, Minneapolis, Minn.'' 



"State of Minnesota, Executive Department, 
"Saint Paul, August 18, 1865. 
"Hon. Melville C. Smith: — 

" J/y I'eo.i" Sir, — I am just in receipt of your resignation as Senator representing 
the Tenth Senatorial District. 

"I deeply regret that your District and tlie State is to be deprived of so faithful and 
efficient a representative, and wish for you in any field of duty or enterprise which 
you may select, the greatest prosperity and success. 

"Very truly, your friend, 

"Stephen Miller, 
"Governor of Minnesota." 



"Lake City, October 17, 1865. 
"My Dear M. C:— 

* * * « J iiardly feel reconciled yet to the idea of your leaving. 

Selfishly, perhaps, but more, I trust, because I wanted your influence for the good of 
our people and State. "VVe need you. Minnesota lacks public men of ability and in- 
tegrity. She has none but whom she can better afford to lose than yourself. It seems 

717 



12 MELVILLE C. SMITH. 

a great pity that ony with your power to influence men should be lost to the com- 
munity. I most sincerely liope that your withdrawal will bo of short duration. I saw 
yoa luid these qualities when I first heard you speak, ten years ago, at Red "Wiug, and 
that as a public man you would never want for friends. 

"Your departure is a great disappointment to our people. We wanted you in the 
Senate t.liis winter — after that, as our Representative in Congress. You coukl then 
have been re-elected or made Governor as you chose, and at the expiration of your 
term, would undoubtedly have been chosen to fill the position of United States Sena- 
tor. I hope you may return in time to do this yet, and that you will make your plans 
to enter public life at the earliest day possible. 

" Respectfully, your friend, 

- " Samuel Doughty. 

" Hon. M. C. Smith, 

139 Broadway, New York." 

These urgent solicitations made it necessarv for Mr. Smith to 
determine whether to adhere to the reasons which had previously 
induced him to decline all public positions, or to make business and 
financial interests t-econdarj, and at once to enter the political arena, 
lie fully appreciated tlie importance of this decision, and replied to 
his friends, that within a few weeks he should determine either to 
accept their kind proffer, or to resign the position of Senator, which 
he had accepted with jiesitation, and resume business. After 
thorough deliberation lie decided on the latter course, replying 
to his friends that, while he had little regard for money as such, 
he faimd it not only a source of power but necessary to cur com- 
fort and the accomplishment of good— that it was one of the funda- 
mental elements of success, and besides, that he had a much stronger 
desire to live comfortably than to die rich, and that as a portion of 
one's life, born without a fortune, must necessarily be devoted to 
business pursuits, it seemed to him to be more wise that it should 
be the earlier part — that if qualified for high political position, 
certainly he would not be less so with additional years and expe- 
rience — that he considered no position an honor to a man unless 
he was an honor to it, and that, should he be elected to Congress, 
he would wish a renomination : — the first being an act of gener- 
ous confidence, he would desire after trial to receive from those 
who had confided in him the indorsement of " well doTie, good and 

faithfid servant." It being suggested that with his ability and powers 

718 



MELVILLE C. SMITH. 13 

of niaiiagemeiit he could legitimately make money from his posi- 
tion, he replied, that he deemed corruption among public men, and 
the general distrust and demoralization resulting therefrom, promi- 
nent among the dangers threatening the stability of our institu- 
tions, and added : '• While I do not assume to be more honest than 
others, should my fellows, in a spirit of generous confidence, con- 
fide important interests to my care, I should not in their absence 
add ingratitude to theft by robbing interests I was chosen to guard 
— tlieie is no money in politics for me." 

Those knowing Mr. Smith will appreciate the significance of 
these expressions as being like his temperate habits and all his 
rules of life— the result of fixed principles and deliberate convic- 
tions, to which he rigidly and conscientiously adheres. It was with 
such views and under these circumstances that he decided to take 
up his abode in New York. The Minnesota State Atlas thus spoke 
of his departure : — 

" HoNS. Melville C. and Delano T. Smith. — Last week we alluded to the fact that 
the above-named Miunesotiaus contemplated moving to New York City, and expressed 
our regret that the State was to lose two so worthy and prominent citizens. We are 
glad to learn that although they are to establish a business office in New York, they will 
retain most of their interest in Minnesota, and may still be considered as largely identified 
with our State. The Messrs. Smith were early settlers in Minnesota, and from the 
first, as business men and citizens, ranked among the most enterprising and prominent. 
Always foremost in whatever concerned the moral and material welfare of the commu- 
nity, earnest and energetic, and honest even above suspicion, they have won the fullest 
confidence of our people. Though largely involved in real estate transactions at the time 
of the terrible financial crash of '57, they were among the few who went through that 
trying ordeal with credit unimpaired and integrity unimpeached. Politically, both are 
effeclive workers, and on the right side ; and to carry oat their present business plans, 
resigned important positions of trust and confidence. In expressing our regrets at their 
departure, and heartily wishing them that success they so eminently deserve, we but 
express the feelings of all who know them." 

During the war, Mr. Smith was among the most earnest and 
zealous in support of the Government, and has often expressed 
regret that his health and business situation precluded his entering 
the army. The following incident, narrated in a WcBtern paper, 
indicates both his patriotism and kindness of heart : — 

719 



14 MELVILLE C. SMITH. 

THE TRUE SPHilT TOWARDS THE SOLDIER. 

" Touag Bailj, who was in our office a few days since, related this circumstance : — 
" ' After the terrible battles of Pope's before Washington, in the Fall of '62, I was 
l^iug badly wounded in one of the hospitals, when one day a young gentleman, a 
stranger, called in and offered me money and some little necessaries, and on learning 
that I had lost the most of my clothing in the fight where I lost my leg, took off his 
vest and gave me, remarking that he was obliged to leave the city early next morning, 
but his brother would see that all my needs were supplied, and would also furnish me 
papers from home, etc., which from that time were promptly done. 

" ' A few weeks ago, 1 met in the Lake City Post-OfQce, that same young gentleman, 
who so kindly befriended me, and it was no other than Melville C. Smith.' " 

While in Wasliingtoii lie joined a regimeut for the defense of 
the Capitol, and being in Xew York during the terrible riot of 
1863, was one of the few citizens who volunteered and joined the 
force of special police. He was active in his influence, and his 
speeches were among the most stirring appeals of the exciting con- 
test. Leading j^ew York papers thus speak of him : — 

" A war meeting was held at Cedar Lake on the evening of July 4th. The address 
delivered by Melville C Smith, Esq., of Minnesota, was one of great power and elo- 
quence, and held the audience with unabated interest until a late hour. Speaking of 
the great principles underlying our struggle, his positions were sustained with an 
overwhelming citation, of historical facts, and driven home with a force that made 
sympathizers with treason writhe. A cop}"- of the Speech was solicited for publication." 
— Utica Morning Herald. 

"Mr. Smith, is a young man of rare ability, with a mind at once comprehensive and 
analytical, and he enters into the themes which he discusses with>such fervor as always 
to carry his audience with him. He has been doing a good work among the masses in 
the Eastern and Central part of the Slate, in setting forth with great clearness the 
causes and inevitable consequences of the war." — Rochester Daily Democrat. 

He spoke at his home in Lake City, and, hj request, continued 
his address on a subsequent evening. This speech was published 
by order of the State Union Committee, making a pamphlet of over 
fifty pages, remarkable for its historical quotations, and as a con- 
densed statement of the facts and principles involved. We insert 
the following extracts : — 

Fellow-Citizens : — 

This fiery ordeal through which our country is passing — the furnace-heat of affliction 
in which it is being tried ; the land wet with fraternal blood, and trembling beneath 
the tread of contending armies, spreading sorrow, desolation, and death ; while the 
nation beholds her life flowing out like a mighty river, and stands appalled as she 
gazes into the dark abyss of dissolution — ^brings us face to face with the questions we 
have met to consider. 

720 



■ MELVILLE C. SMITH. 15 

Why, then, is it, grim War stalks through the land? Why these gory battle-fields 
and silent jfraveyards? Why is blood on the nation's garments, and sorrow in the 
nation's heart? Three short years ago our land was the abode of peace and happiness. 
No other was as highly favored — enjoyed as great civil and religions liberty — was 
as blessed in every ramification of society. As a nation we had grown as by enchant- 
ment, and every sea was white with the sails of cur prosperity. We were not only 
cherished with paternal care at home, but even in the remote islands of the sea, felt the 
strong arm of the nation's protection, till it was better to have been born an American 
than a king. The vast extent of our national domain ; our untold resources, rapid 
increase in population, progress in science, art, and literature, under the fostering care 
of republican institutions, inspiring liberty-loving hearts, the world over; exciting 
feirs of usurpers everywhere, and forcing admiration and respect even from kings 
and despots — our country stood forth alike the wonder and admiration of the age. 

OUR NATIONAL DISEASE. 

Such, apparently, was our national condition, and thus were we regarded. But 
beneath all there was a canker gnawing at the nation's heart, a worm eating at its 
vitals, a venomous serpent poisoning its life-blood and corrupting its soul. It was 
possessed of a devil — slavery! This is the serpent that entered our republican 
Eden, blighting our hopes and blasting our prosperity. This, that has palsied the 
public conscience and dragged the nation to its slaugh'er-cart through the blood of its 
sins and the lilth of its iniquities; this, that has clothed the nation in the habiliments 
of mourning, sunk it in melancholy, and thrown over it the solemnity of the tomb. 
This is the source of cur sorrows — the heartless fountain-head of our universal lamen- 
tation and grief — this that causes strong men to toil with heavy hearts, and soldiers to 
march the streets with arms reversed, in token of respect to our loved and honored 
dead. It is the withering curse of Slaverj' ! — Slavery, iliat like a foul spectre ha.s 
invaded every hearthstone, and with its bloody hand plucked a flower from the wreath 
that encircled the famUy altar; Slavery, that, having exhausted the catalogue of lesser 
crimes, turned national assassin; and even this Rebellion, wicked and atrocious 
as it is, is but a symptom oft he disease — an outgrowth of this hell-born villainy. 

This war is but a struggle between antagonistic principle.s, — a hand-to-hand con- 
test between right and wrong, justice and injustice, libertj' and slavery, God and the 
devil. Stripped of its cobweb.-?, shorn of its mean subterfuges, it is this — only this. 
Milton, in portraying the conflict between Gabriel and Lucifer, had no better example. 
Heaven and Hell could not have an issue more absolute and perpendicular. Xo human 
agency can thrust itself between the opposing forces. The issue is made, the conflict 
has begun; Treason cast the die; Slavery has crossed the Rubicon and challenges 
Freedom to battle. '' By the Eternal" she shall be met 1 ***** 

Slavery from the first has been our evil genius, and is in its very nature " evil and 
only evil, and that continually'." It chattelizes the black, brutalizes the w^hite, and 
meanly robs labor of its just reward; it nullifies the relation of husband and wife; 
ruthlessly violates those of parent and child; and brutally makes merchandise of the 
bones, blood, and souls of men. It pays a premium on the basest licentiousness, by 
making the sale of one's own oflfspring a profitable sin; incarcerates the mother in a 
dungeon for teaching the mutual child of herself and master to read the Bible ; it strikes 
down every guarantee of human nature, and makes the cliaritable instincts of humanity 
a crime ; tramples upon the attributes of the mind ; dwarfs the soul, and lays waste the 
liSjrL's best affections. It has been wc-li said, '• tlie best of slavery, is but sl.ivery at best.- ' 
46 721 



16 MELVILLE C. SMITH 

It is the upas, rank with the blood of innocence, and with death-dews drippinji: frora it3 
every leaf. It is the sinful embodiment of the most monstrous crimes. More it could 
not be — less would not be Slavery. 

Tlte title to evifry huynan being is in Jiimself, God-givex. It is stamped in every part 
of his beinf^ — written in his very blood, and proclaimed in his every heart-throb. That 
power which assumes to take it from him, whether an individual or a nation, is a robber 
and an assr.sHiii. To attempt it, short of a decree from the Almighty, is hell-born aud'i- 
city! All our country's wealth ; its costly edifices ; its structures of towering magnifi- 
cence, are insignificant in the sight of God, compared with the shivering black woman 
who pleads at the base of our Capitol; and to-day, under Providence, this nation is being 
taught, in the severe school of affliction, the sacredness of human nature. •* * * 

NORTHEUX AGGUESSIONS. 
******* 

Freedom the aggressor! This is adding insult to injury, and ought to more than till 
the measure of even slave-holding audacity. It was Slavery that basely polluted the 
shrine of Liberty at which the fathers worshiped, and treated with practical atheism th» 
principles they taught. Slavery that made the Supremo Court simply a wicked instru- 
ment for recording its decrees, wanting in every element of sound law, and disgraceful 
to civiliz ition. Slavery that molded Presidents and Cabinets to its unhallov/ed demands 
— laid its polluting hand upon Congress, shaping its doughfaces into vessels of dishonor 
suited to its own distorted imagination. Slavery that has cast a shadow over the good 
name of some of our great men ; dug the political graves of many of our little men, like 
Franklin Pierce, deep in infamy ; and has caused others, like Buchanan, to crawl the 
earth with the brand of Cain upon their brows — to patriotic men, objects of contempt! 
Slavery that in its malign influence has raised up political grub-worms that gnawed 
liberty out of the Constitution — aye, even generated weak and wicked ministers to 
claim for it Divine origin, and td interpret the Bible as a slave-holding ordinance. 

Slavery, mad wi;.h ambitioH and plelhoric with sin, sought to abrogate the right of 
petition; failing to betray and obtain Cahfornia, for months fought against her admis- 
sion as a free State ; connived at, or openly supported the foreign slave-trade ; tried to 
buy, and showed a strong disposition to steal Cuba, and sought in ways unspeakably 
mean to force slavery on free territory; subjected — as under the brutal code in Nev/ 
Mexico — free white persons to be whipped by their employers, and denying them re- 
dress in tlie courts ; inflicting, as in Kansas, cruel and unheard of punishment for ima- 
ginary offenses. 

We repeatedly settled it by " compromise,^' but it wouldn't stay setllxl. Territory 
that belonged to Freedom by divine right — which she afterwards bought at a poor bar- 
gain in the conspromise of 1820 — we suffered to be filched from us by the infernal leg- 
islation of '51, in the meantime having sandwiched our menial service to sin by a 
fugitive slave act, more hellish in its instincts than ever disgraced any nation 
on God's green earth whicli had ability enough to write its own record. Slavery 
mutilated our literature; disrupted our churches; infused its venomous poison into 
tracts circtilated by our Bible Societies; stifled our presses; practically suspended the 
writ of Habeas Corpus; and, in a large portion of the Union, by turns as suited its 
caprices, tarred and feathered, or cruelly murdered, all who assumed the prerogative of 
freedom of speech. 

Tims the disease grew, and the poison spread, and by flattery and frauds, violence 
and brutality, the South pushed her aggressions, the North tamely submitting, begging 

722 



MELVILLE C. SMITH. .IT* 

for rights slie should have demanded, bearing wrongs and forbearing censure, until an 
insignificant minority of slave-holders prostituted this great Government to their own 
base purposes. Thus we lived this iiypocritical sham, vainly fancying we could crucify 
liumanity, outrage justice, and cheat the Almighty of our inevitable destiny. * * * 

THE CULMIXATION. 
4t 4: 4: 4= H( 4: 

The first shot that hissed through the air at Sumter was the sinful embodiment — 
the condensed expression — of the vileness of slavery. It mai'ked an epocli in the world's 
moral history ; for in cliallenging the nation to arras it summoned itself to judgment. 
What an hour I The patriots of the Revolution must have turned in their coffins, and 
the spirits of Washington, Adams, Jefferson and the mighty dead, gathered over that 
lieleaguered fortress ! That shot sounded the death-knell of Slavery, and opened 
the door for the nation's deliverance. We didn't mean abolition, but the slwt did. 
Neither did our fatliersiu 1775 intend Independence; but Liberty when aroused makes 
thorough work — in the words of John Hampden, " takes no step backwards." 

We bore insult so long, and the night of our degradation was so dark, that many 
brave souls wearied watching for the coming day; but the first shot belched by rebel 
cannon broke the nation's nightmare. The long roll sounded, and she stood forth nobly 
to her work! Her heart that was pulseless, beat with the newness of life; traitors were 
floated like dead-wood on the resistless current, or consumed by the burning indigna- 
tion of the people. Old and young caught the spirit of the fathers — Liberty vitalized 
even conservatism into life — parties were lost in patriotism, and the nation, with the 
sword of justice uplifted, beneath the folds of the time-honored flag, swore Freedom 
should not perish I 

How much of history is crowded in the few brief months that followed I How 
various the emotions it calls up! How we felt when we heard the old flag had been 
fired upon — Massachusetts boys murdered in Baltimore! How our blood grew hot; 
how it came and went as we read of a skirmish, or some new victim to treason and 
death ! How we grieved for Ellsworth, the Warren of our struggle — how we lamented 
Lj'on, the Leonidas of the war — how we mourned for Baker, the Hampden of Liberty 1 
How, by and by, weak souls, poisoned by Slavery, quibbled over the right of coercion — 
talked of the superiority of Southern chivalry and our poor prospect of success ! How 
slowly we put on the mantle of manhood and asserted our equality ; how leniently we 
dealt with traitors, issuing menial proclamations throitgh our Generals in command, 
until loyal men blushed from very shame, and felt to cry, "How long, Lord, how 
long I " * * * * * * 

A WORn OF EXPLANATION. 
I have had occasion to speak much of evils deserving condemnation. I have j'et to 
ppeak of " Copperheads ;" and that the spirit in which I condemn may not be misunder- 
stood, a word, not of apology, but of explanation will be given. While I despise those 
mealy-mouthed, willj'-wonty, canny-canty, white-livered individuals who never take 
sides without an "z/" or a "fti/i," I have no sympathy witli unreserved and uncalled- 
for denunciation. As for myself, if I know my own heart, I have too much charity for 
human nature ; appreciate too highly its rights and sacredness to cause the meanest 
man living, unnecsssarili/, one twinge of pain, one pang of suffering, even one unpleas- 
ant thought. Regarding as I must the claims of wisdom and justice, I would above all 
cultivate charity, and spread wide its broad mantle to cover the weaknesses — I had 
almost said the loickednesses — of human kind ; would ever remember that we are all chil- 

723 



18 MELVILLE C. SMITH. 

dren of a common Father, groping our way— slowly through the darkness and soul- 
cruciflxions of sin though it may be — up, up to the realms of universal light and love ; 
and that every man, be he white or black, elevated or degraded, loyalist or traitor, is my 
brother. 

To the light of this gospel I would lovingly cherish the deepest, most comprehensive 
rympathy, and pray my heart might ever be a stranger to revenge. May God grant me 
that veneration for His infinite wisdom, justice and love, that through this divine Trinity 
I may be strengthened to act my part wisely and well; that I may venerate wisdom 
comprehensive, justice inexorable, and love pervading all. Justice I yet so tempered 
with mercy, that even in the hottest strife, with enemies personal or the enemies of 
mankind, I may contribute ray weak efforts for the punishment of crime, and still in 
the spirit which ascended from the Cross, prayerfully utter from the innermost depths 
of Illy soul — " Fatlier, forgive them, they know not ivhat they do!" * * * 

PEACE-MEN. 

TVe have "peace-men," who if not traitors, would make them if the material were 
strong enough — who are mildly aquatic and timorously lacteal ; wlio want bullets greased 
and rammed down with propositions of peace; constantly crying to Uncle Sam as the 
Irishman did to the cat; " Hoidd xiill while I skin ye aisy!^' — who pray for the coun- 
try, as the man did for negro Tom in whom he had a half-interest. — " Lord bless nigger 
Tom, especially myhalf!'' — who are willing the Union sliould be reconstructed pro- 
vided the tail can control ; but this is contrary to nature, as is clearly shown by the 
philosophy of Lord Dundreary, who asks— " Why doth 1 he dog waggle hith tail? 
Because the dog itli stwonger than the tail. If he wathen't, the tail would waggle the 
dog." 

You cry peace 1 peace! when -there is no peace. If in blissful ignorance of this facv, 
let the roar of cannon and the shrieks of the dying open your deaf ears — tlie glitter of 
bayonets and the flash of sabres open your blind eyes ! He who now cries " peace " 
amid the hissing of shot and shell, his voice drowned by the jeers of his enemies 
and the groans of his dying comrades, is too weak for heaven, too pusillanimous for 
hell. 

****** 

OUR SOLDIERS. 

Never can we repay the unnumbered heroes, who, biddmg farewell to home, friends, 
and all that men hold dear, have gone lorth to offer up their blood as holy incense on 
their country's altar — who throwing themselves into the deadly breach, in blaze of sun, 
in blinding snows, in hunger and thirst, have borne long wearisom.e marches, forded 
swollen torrents, stood on the lonely night-watch, languished in filthy prisons, and 
nobly faced privations, pain and death that the nation might live. Tliese, indeed, are 
the demigods of Liberty. Tlieirs is the quiet, unassuming and heroic virtue — dazzled by 
no mad ambition, yet firm as adamant, in the sublime faith that they are fighting the 
battles of God and libertj-. 

I bow to American soldiers with a respect and reverence I could not yield. to king or 
monarch. "Well may the nation honor them — their heroic patience, their sublime faith, 
their undying patriotism ; well may we bedew their graves with our tears; their way 
to glory is one of suffering and sacrifice ; far from kindred, tortured with tliirst, no 
friendly voice to administer comfort, no kind hand to give a cup of water, or stanch 
their wounds ; no solace but death's fevered dreams bringing up home and the dear 
ones whom they will never meet till in the better land! Many a noble one has died 

724 



MELVILLE C. SMITH. 19 

thus; others liave returned to us weary, wasted, bronzed, and battle-scarred, — mere 
shadows of the stalwart men they were; wan and weak they totter through our streets 
like aged men. Let the nation give them her sympathy and protection. Let her ensliriue 
in lier heart tlie living and the dead, and crown tliem witli flowers of affection. God 
bless our soldiers I 

PATRIOTIC WOMEN. 

"Witness the spirit of heroic self-sacrifice, serene patience and sublime faith of our 
patriotic women. How they have toiled to relieve the sufferings and promote the com- 
fort of our soldiers ! How many a wife and mother among our poor country-women 
lias struggled one long we-ary year after another, tortured by suspense, and agonized 
with the fear that the beloved liead and hope of the family might never return 1 With 
what anxiety — battle after battle — she glances over the long list of the dead, and how 
at lonely eve tears have come unbidden, as her little children have offered up tlieir 
nightly prayer for the father's safety aud return; and yet, poor, desolate and alone, for 
her country's sake patiently enduring all, without murmur or complaint. How have 
even widowed mothers given up their only sons, orphaned sisters their brothers, and 
the new-made bride the dearest ofi'ering of her heart, it may be to fall in battle, per- 
chance to linger in prison, or to die amidst scenes of cruelty and suffering, the mere 
thought of which makes the cheek blancli, the brain reel, aud the soul sick. 

4: H= # Ni 4: 4: 

OUR POSITION AND RESPONSIBILITY 

I have never felt that the nation was sick unto death ; nor have I looked for a speedy 
peace. Being a war of principle, it must necessarily be desperate and eshaustive; biit 
in sacrifices and blood the nation shall pass the Red Sea to its deliverance. 

In his own good time and way, when worthy of it, God will save the nation; and 
well may the thoughtful patriot watch our moral progress with even more anxiety tiian 
the advance of our armies. In the light of the great principles at issue, we canuot 
over-rate our individual and national responsibility. With varied hopes and fears, the 
eyes of the whole world are upon us — the despot desiring our destruction, the down- 
trodden our success. We contend against the imprecations of the wicked, but are aided 
by the prayers of the good. Lee us be equal to this great responsibility and fulfill our 
high destiny. Let us make up no attempt to cheat the Almighty, but build on a sure 
foundation, recognizing one great human heart, one broad universal justice. Avoiding 
the mistake made hj the fathers of laying one corner-stone on Plymouth rock, and 
another on the quagmire of Southern slavery, let us build on the granite of God's justice 
and in the spirit of universal liberty. 

Standing by the graves of our fathers, drawing wisdom from the spirit of the past, 
light from the living present, faith and courage from the eternal future, let us swear to 
perfect their noble design. Slow to fight, let us show Slavery we fight but once I 
****** 

FIRST PURE, THEN PEACEFUL. — CONCLUSION. 

It seems under Providence to have been necessary, that battle-field after battle-field 
should be watered with the blood of our beloved — leaving hearths and hearts desolate 
and piling up hecatombs of the dead — that the ark of our liberty should be tempest-tost, 
till it reel and quiver beneath the storm, to teach us that high and low, black and white, 
must sink or swim together. But with our flag now purified by this baptism, the ■' Old 

725 



20 MELVILLE C. SMITH. 

Ship of State " — clad in the full armor of justice, with Liberty as its guiding star — shall 
bear its precious freight across this bloody sea triumphant. God is, indeed, " on the 
side of the strongest battalions," but the strongest battahons are eternal principles of 
right. Mere physical force and material outlines come to naught, but the spirit of 
truth is ever victorious. Oui bodies decay, our bones fret to dust, the soul wins the 
immortal victory 1 

When the fire of this Civil War shall have consumed the corrupting dross of Slavery, 
then, and not till then, will the nation be welded in perfect union and love. Then, no 
longer will the wail of the bondman mingle with the shout of the freeman; the altar- 
fires, kindled by the fathers, shall never grow dim ; the graves of our brave and beau- 
tiful will have borne their fruit ; the din of war shall be stilled — the blood of battle- 
fields dried up — the clouds lifted from the trouljled face of our beloved country — the 
Goddess of Liberty appear crowned with a diadem of six-and-thirty stars — tlie oppressed 
of all nations gather beneath the folds of the old flag, as under the cooling shadow of 
a great rock, and ours shall be, indeed, ''the chosen land of liberty! " Men and angels 
shall rejoice — the morning stars sing together — the birds warble a more joyous song — 
the air of heaven seem purer and brighter, and all Nature join to swell the glad anthem 
of our Nation's Deliverance 1 

Ilai-k ! there conios the sweep of wings; 

Hoiy angels hover noiir 1 
Earth their heavenly chorus rings, 
— Glory to the King of Kings, 

Peace and Pukity are Hekb I 

On their arrival in New York, the Smith Bre>thers opened a law 
and real-estate office on Broadway, and the subject of this sketch 
purchased a quarry in the Yermont slate regions. He, however, 
very soon became impressed with the great necessity for more 
adequate accommodation for the trade and travel, and the com- 
merce of the city, and was elected a dh-ector of the New York Pier 
and Warehouse Company, but devoted liis energies almost entirely 
to perfecting and popularizing a plan for duplicating Broadway, 
known as the " Arcade Eailway." This plan being so complete 
and comprehensive, at first struck many as visionary, and aroused 
the opposition not only of rival companies, but also of the omnibus 
and surface railroad lines, and other important interests to bo 
affected; but his great patience, perseverance, and management 
have gained "for the enterprise, considering the obstacles, extraor- 
dinary success and popularity, as will be seen by Keports made by 
the ablest engineers, and articles in the newspaper press, limited 
extracts from wdiich are herewith appended : — 

" New York Arcade Railway. — The rapid growth of New York City in wealth 

726 



MELVILLE C. SMITH. 21 

and population, with the corresponding increase in trade and travel, have so cro-\vded 
the thoroughfares and overburdened the means of transportation, that the imperative 
demand for relief lias naturally awakened the active thoughts and creative faculties of 
many minds. Among the numerous plans presented, the most complete and compre- 
hensive is that of the Arcade Railway, projoctod by Hon. Melville C. Smith. 

"It is an under surface railway, which contemplates the use of tlie entire width of 
the streets and avenues under which it passes, the general plan of construction being 
the excavation of a sub-way street, with sidewalks for foot passenger.s, at a general 
level of twelve feet below the grade of the present sidewalks, and between these side- 
walks a central roadway some three feet lower, in v.iiich are to be placed four railway 
tracks, the upper street to be supported on columns and girders, with arches between, 
and completed with a road-bed and pavement of the most approved construction. 

"It is estimated that the cost of the road will be $1,000,000 per mile, and that by 
opening three places for working to a mile, and progressing from each a lineal yard per 
daj', it would require two years for the construction of the work ; temporary movable 
bridges, in the meantime, preventing any obstruction to travel. 

" Having four tracks, it would afford rapid transportation for both freight and passen- 
gers, with full accommodation for the way and through travel, thus completely relieving 
Broadway — an advantage not even claimed for any other plan. 

"It combines the advantages of both the tunnel and elevated ways, and avoids the 
disadvantages of each, being strong and safe, and admitting of rapid speed, and at tlie 
same time being airy, liglit, and pleasant for travel; the open area ways, with the 
addition of dead-lights in the sidewalks (if necessary) affording perfect dayliglit to tlie 
street and stores below. 

"Instead of being offensive to the eye and disfiguring the street, as some of the other 
systems inevitably must, it will, from its open construction, be an ornament to Che city, 
forming an elegant arcade, surpassing any other street in the world for tlie magnificeneo 
of its design and the utility of its arrangement." — American Institute Rf.port, 1868. 

"About three years ago, Hon. Melville C. Smith, who may be considered the father 
of this great enterprise, commenced his energetic efforts to impress upon the puitlic 
tnind the practicability and importance of the Arcade Railway, as tlie best possible mode 
of accommodating tlie trade and transit of New York. 

" Rival enterprises have been conceived and pressed upon the attention of the public, 
but the indefatigable labors of Mr. Smith have resulted in the conviction that the Ar- 
cade Railwaj' is not only practicable, but has become an absolute necessity, to meet the 
demands of the city. 

"Fortunately for the progressive development of thQ world, here and there men rise 
up in advance of the general mind, to mark cut new ways for the plodding million, who 
have always been elow and incredulous in regard to great enterprises, however practical 
and necessary. 

"Like the other great works, tlirough which tlie human family have been so wonder- 
fully blessed, the Arcade Railway lias found a champion in Mr. Smith, whose grasp of 
intellect has fully comprehended the enterprise in all its vast proportions ; and whoso 
untiring application lias enabled him to master it in all its details." — City Beporter. 

" As an achievement of science it will challenge the admiration of the world, not 
merely by its beautiful architectural proportions, but infinitely more, by the benefits it • 
will confer upon the people as an eloquent expounder of the law of progress. 

"Mr. Smith, the projector of this great enterprise, has convinced every unprejudiced 
mind who ha^ examined the subject, that the Arcade Railway is the only plan bvAvliicix 

727 



22 MELVILLE C. SMITH. 

to relieve the overcrowded thoroughfares of this island city. Every citizen ought lo 
feel it his duty tcf aid in carrying it through upon its own merits, independently of ail 
corrupt and corrupting influences. Tliis has beeu, and is, the settled purpose of Mr. 
Smith, and to that end he has labored with untiring patience and perseverance, to 
attract to its support men with ' cleau liands and an honest purpose,' to enable him to 
carry on the work to a glorious consummation, as a monument, not only to science, but 
to virtue, intelligence, and old-fashioned honesty." — World Rtformtr. 

" Of all the various schemes proposed, we see nothing which holds out any real 
promise so well as the New Broadway plan, officially known as the Arcade Railway. 
One feels, as he studies this plan, a little like the fox described by Massiuger, who, 
'when first he saw the forest's king, the lion,' found his breath nearly taken away, but 
at last became familiarized with the great creature, and began boldly to admire and 
frankly to criticise. For the Arcade Railway scheme proposes to attempt 'a big thing,' 
which seems audacity itself at first, but which, studied more closely, begins to show 
itself quite as feasible as many a little thing." — Galaxy. 

" Since the ingenuity of man hasibeen applied to the improvement of cities, no con- 
ception more magnificent than tliis of the Arcade Railroad has been brought forward. 
If the road were constructed, every New Yorker would be more proud of it than of 
any other ornament of tlie city ; and we should all wonder that men could have been 
found to oppose it, just as we now wonder at those who fought against the introduc- 
tion of the Croton water. It will injure nobody, and benefit everybody." — X. Y. Sun. 

"A more brilliant, and thoroughly practicable conception than that of the Arcade 
Railw'tiy was never evoked for the accommodation of popular circulation in a great 
city; and the value of it is that whenever applied, or if universally applied, it builds a 
city two stories high, thus doubling the surface for commercial transit and popular 
travel." — Herald. 

" We trust that every property-owner and inhabitant of New York who has the 
grandeur and completeness of tlie Empire City at heart, will sustain the project, in 
order that the Legislature may be more incliu'ed to sanction such a legitimate, such a 
magnitieent, and such a brilliant undertaking." — Boyd's Shipping Gazette. 

"The Arcade plan will add an immense avenue, traversing the heart of the metropo- 
lis, and affording a scene without parallel the world over." — Moore's Rural New Yorke>: 

" The Arcade Railway combines the advantages of all the other plans, and is singu- 
larly free from their defects." — Engineering and Mining Journal. 

" This will give to the people the great boon of sure, rapid, and cheap communicar 
tion, and V>e an attraction to out of town visitors, second only to that of the great Central 
Pari;. — Scientific American. 

"All other plans thus far presented sink into mere rat-holes when compared with 
the Arcade." — Brooklyn Daily Union. 

"To Messrs. James Brown, A. A. Low, John Jacob Astor, and Wilson G. Hunt: — 
* * * * * * 

" After having examined the various plans proposed for relieving Broadway, and, at 
the same time, securing the cheapest, most convenient, and most rapid transportation 
of freight and passengers from one extremity of tlie city to the other, I have no hesita- 
tion in saying, that the plan recommended by Mr. Smith presents advantages incom- 
parably greater than any other plan that has ever been presented. 

" Yours, v/ith great respect, 

'Peteu CoOPEa." 

728 



MELVILLE C, SMITH. 23 

The following will convey an impression of the importance of 
the contest before the Legislature in 1868 : — 

" A very convincing and complete argument was made by Hon. M. C. Smith, and the 
bill will probabl}^ bo sliortly reported by the Railway Committees of both Houses. 
The Arcade plan is recominetided by some of the lirst engineers of the country; and it 
comob here with the prestige of having no taint of corruption upon it, and of being 
supported and urged by men iu botji Houses, concerning whom no suspici n of 
improper motives would be eutertained. The friends of the bill presented petitions 
for its passage signed by over 4,000 owners and occupants of premises on Broadway, 
among whom are some of the heaviest owners on the street." — The K Y. World. 

"The Arcade bill seems now sure to pass; the project is an excellent one in every 
way; and the Legislature which gives us this road will be gratefully remembered by 
the people. 

" Our Albany correspondent gives an iuteresting account of its unanimous passage 
in the Assembly by 109 vote.', the greatest number ever giveu for a railroad bill iu the 
Legislature. Tliis popularity is owing to the fact that Ihe managers, instead of the 
appliances too common in such cases, introduced their measure under the auspices of 
men of the highest character iu the Legislature. It has been approved almost; unani- 
mously by the pulilic press of the city and State, and has tlie sanction of the best 
engineers. It has already been reported to the Senate, and a majority of senators are 
said to be iu its favor." — K Y. Evening Post. 

"The bill for the Arcade Underground Railway was taken np and passed on Friday 
night by a vote of 101 to 1. On the next day J. L. Flagg, of Troy, who had voted in 
the negative, changed his vote, and seven other delegates wei"e recorded in the affirma- 
tive. The Arcade plan has thus the proud and distinctive honor of having passed in a 
full Hotise with.out a dis.senting vote. This is a tritnnph unparalleled in underground 
campaigns. 

"The victory is the more marked, because tliis corporation is by no means the richest 
of those wlio have applied for cliarters, and has never been charged with attempting to 
use unlawful means for securing its end. Without the aid of a lobby, but with faith 
and enthusiasm that has been most marked, its projectors have carried out their pin-pose 
as proclaimed from the start, of passing the bill on its merits." — Rochester Democrat. 

"The most important of all these underground scliemes, and the one which will raise 
the real opposition of tlie surface folks, is the Arcade road. So strong has it become 
tliat the surface folks are alarmed, and have therefore determined to defeat the Arcade 
at all hazards. They cannot do this witliont a lavish eipenditure of money. So Al- 
bany is filled with paid lobby agents, and a handful of millionaires bid fair to defeat the 
ivvihes of the greut mass of the people. 

" The Arcade has the indorsement of nearly every engineer in the State of New York, 
and of others wlio have personally examined and made a study of tlie tunnel in London. 
One thing commendable iu this bill is, that it is not pushed by tlie regular lol^byists, who 
infest Albany year after year. Had sucli a railroad been constructed ten years ago, 
four hundred thousand people, and hundreds of millions' worth of property, would have 
been saved to the State." — New York Tribune. 

"The Central Underground bill boasted A. T. Stewart, Judge Hi'tou, Senator Canip- 
bell, and one Brown, among its most valiant defenders. The Arcade bill was defended 
by an army of engineers, builders, architects, journalists, and others, an array of prac- 
tical talent such as Albany has never seen gathered upon a single bill." — N. Y. Citizen. 

729 



24 MELVILLE C. SMITH. 

"There was a Waterloo defeat of undergound :iuJ surface railroad scliernes in tlio 
Senate to-daj-, known respectively as the Manhattan Underground Railroad, People's 
Railroad, People's Metropolitan and Suburban Railway, New York Underground Rail- 
road, Metropolitan Undergi-ound Railroad, and Metropolitan Transit Railway. Five of 
tliese we-e projects for underground roads. The remaining one, the surface plan, was ' 
the proposed People's Railway. The Arcade plan, as I have prophesied, will be the 
winning road." — Herald. 

" The Arcade railroad, which passed the Assembly last week by an unprecedented 
unanimous vote — one hundred and nine — was fought through against the determined 
opposition of all the other city railroad schemes, and is the only bill which can pass the 
Legislature for the relief of New York. It has received the univers.il commendation of 
the press and public, with the exception of those interested in a surface road. 

" The examination of the scheme before the Senate committee lasted threa entire days, 
and nearly every prominent engineer in the United States — among them William J. 
McAlpine, former State Engineer; Cliarles Tiuirstou, Nathaniel Cheney, Yice-President 
of the Architectural Iron Works ; J. N. Greene, Engineer of the Lake Superior Ship 
Canal ; and General Quiuby, of the Rochester University — testified to the perfect 
feasibility of tlie plan. 

" J'orty distinct plans for Broadway travel have been laid before tliC Legislature, but 
the Arcade, in our opinion, is the best for the city, for property owners, and for the 
public, and we fervently trust that the Senate, in their wisdom, will pass it. When com- 
pleted, Broadway will become, indeed, the wonder of the world." — N. Y. Evening Mail. 

'•The Arcade road failed in tlie State Senate, and more's the pity. It was an original 
and splendid scheme, one worthy of the great metropolis, and which would have beau- 
tified our noble cicj^. But the wealthy owners of property on Broadway defeated it by 
their money. A meeting was held, the funds subscribed, and the Senatorial votes 
purchased to defeat it by one majority." — Beal Estate Record. 

The following allude to the contest of 1869, but refer niahily to 
that of 1870 :— 

^^ Eailwojj Legislation.- — Tliere will doubtless be a multitnde of projects before the next 
Legislature, as there was before tlie last, for supplying this great want of our city, but, 
what are to be their merits and what their chances of success ? The plan known as 
the ' Arcade Railway ' has been before the last two Legislatures, and, although it Avas 
generally denounced at first as ' visionary,' there is no concealing the fact that it has con- 
stantly grown in popular favor, and to-day commands a larger share of public confidence 
than any other scheme for an underground railroad in tliis city ever offered to the 
public. Its entire practicability is vouched for, after full examination, by tlie first engi- 
neers in the country, including Hon. Wm. J. McAlpine, General E. L. Viele, General C. 
B. Stuart, General George B. McClellan, General I. F. Quinby, and many others. It 
has received the indorsement of the New York Produce P]xchange, of the American 
Institute, and of a large proportion of the leading merchants and capitalists of this oiiy 
— men like Commodore Vanderbilt, Peter Cooper, H. B. Claflin, George Opdyke, E. S. 
Brown, W. T. Coleman, and others of this class. It is, moreover, an American inven- 
tion — entirely unlike any English or other foreign underground roads — and could readdy 
command American capital to build it, which no other scheme for an underground road 
in this city has hitlierto been able to do. On its first introduction to the Legislature in 
1868, its popularity with the members was such that it passed the Assembly unani- 
mously, on its merits alone, without the aid of money, and only failed in the Senate by 

■ 730 



MELVILLE C. SMITH. 25 

one vote. Last winter it was not pressed to a vote, owing, among otlier causes, to the 
venality liiat prevailed in ihat body, but the proposed route of the road was kept clear 
from infrinji'ement by any rival project." — New York Times. 

'•Most of tlie leading papers are strongly iu favor of the Arcade, yet it was defeated 
by trickery in a former legislature. But Hon. Melville C. Smith, the author of the plan, 
is urging tlie thing with great energy and persistence, and it seems as if he must suc- 
ceed. It is by far the besf, if not the only plan worth naming." — Avierican Baptist. 

"The Hon. Melville C. Snjit,h,who last year with exceeding ability and care succeeded 
in presenting his plan, the Arcade, so forcibly that it was generally received as the 
most perfect, and, in fact, the only one feasible, has opened his batteries, and will have 
nothing to fear, unless from the bulky capitalists. The Arcade has worked its own way ; 
year after year the best men of the State have gradually gravitated towards it, until 
now it is the favored plan of some of the best engineers iu the world. That it will 
become a law is certain, and when a law, some of the largest capitalists of New York 
pledge themselves that the work sliall be at once commenced." — New York Express. 

" So elaborate is its plan, so comprehensive its character, that it at iirst struck the 
mind as one of those theoretical wonders that engineers have for ages proposed, and in 
which they have failed. But after a time familiarity toned down what had appeared to 
be abstractions into the most easily accomplished results of mechanical skill. This year, 
with a wisdom that cannot be too greatl}' praised, the accomplished manager of the 
Interests of this great enterprise, Melville G. Smith, Esq., brought before the commit- 
tees the most eminent engineers in America, who dissipated the fears of the committee 
and put at rest all doubts of the success of this the most elaborate work of the kind in 
the world. Another point of great interest to the whole country is, that when the 
Arcade is completed, the great western lines of road will be able to run their trains on 
the tracks of this road, and so laud passengers and freight at any point in tlie city down 
to the Battery." — Rochester Democrat. 

"The 'superficial' .-^peculators aro in arms against the Arcade. They see in its 
success death to their monopolies, and a speedy end to the penny swindle. Tliey wiU 
spend lialf a million to defeat the 'Arcade,' and not succeed after all. The tbrco here is 
a strong one. The Arcade railroad is ahead. 

"If ever any man deserved success to carry tlirougli a public project, it is Melville 0. 
Smith, the fi?e?i.5 ex machina o? tiie 'Arcade Railway.' Tear in and year out he ha.s 
advocated the merits of his scheme before the Legislature, until he seems to have con- 
quered opposition, and turned enemies intp friends. The bill passed last year in the 
Assembly, but did not go through the Senate. This vear, it passed the Senate, and 
counts upon a large majority in the other house. It is certainly one of the most mag- 
nificent' projects, both in a financial view and as a public convenience, that has ever 
commanded the attention of capitalists." — New York Dispatch. 

"The Arcade Railroad bill was reached in the Senate this afternoon, and was dis- 
cussed for two hours. The whole scheme had been so thoroughly discussed in Com- 
mittee and elsewhere that the debate was generally deemed useless, and the opposition 
to it, largely I'actious. The discussion closed by ordering the bill to a third reading — 
ayes 18, nays 8. The bill will doubtless i)ass both llou.ses, unless the rumors arc 
true that a pile of money is to be used to defeat it." — Times. 

"The Arcade Railroad Bill was taken up iu the Assembly, when its opponents com- 
menced the most estraordinary tihbustering tactics to prevent a vote being taken 
that have been witnessed in the Legislature this winter. The bill, on its final pas- 

731 



26 MELVILLE C. SMITH. 

sage, received 93 votes to 27 agaiurft it. Hon. Jolm A. Griswold telegraphed 
that he lioped tlie Arcade bill would pass, and if so, it would certainly be built. A 
large number of promiueut citizens and capitalists of New Yorli have also written to 
members, urging the passage of the bill. It is but simple truth and justice to state that 
there has not been an important bill before the Legislature this winter in wliich so 
much pains have been taken to enlighten members with regard to its character and 
merits." — Sajiie. 

" The bill for the construction of tlie Arcade Railway passed the Assembly yesterday 
afternoon, receiving an affirmative vote of ninety-four, an astonishing result, consider- 
ing the character of the opposition. Capitalists with' their millions are waiting to invest 
their money in the enterprise. His Excellency, therefore, can find no tenable ground 
upon which to base refusal to sanction the inauguration of this work. The Arcade Rail- 
way is a public benefaction, of national interest. Xothiug of a temporizing nature will 
answer. Whatever is done should include witliin its scope the sweep of centuries and 
afjbrd means of freight transportation and facilities for passenger travel for all time to 
come." — Albany Everdng Journal. 

" The Arcade Railroad plan under Broadv,-ay, as-ide from its boldness of design, its 
ultimate success as a work of skillful engineering, and its final crowning success to 
the capitalist as a profitable and permanent investment, especially recommends itself to 
the working classes. Will our Chief State Executive bear in mind that while a score 
of old fogies, representing, as they say, $350,000,000 capital, are opposing the road 
for no sound or tangible reasons, either expressed or implied, that 500,000 Avorking 
people demand tlie sanction to the measure, and the construction of the road? Also, 
that the said 500,000 working people, at $1,000 per head (which was a fair valuation 
for slaves before the war), represent $500,000,000 capital, and can control 100,000 
votes ? " — National Workman. 

" Does Governor Hoffman propose to deprive tlie people of New York and of West- 
chester county of the means of rapid transit now within their reacli, because a few 
omnibus ownei's and Broadway millionaires are determined that things shall remain as 
they are ? The Arcade has stood the test of a three years' campaign at Albany. It hos 
been subjected to every possible criticism, and has triumphantly answered all objections. 
Unable to argue longer against it, its enemies are now endeavoring to frighten the Gov- 
ernor from signing the bill granting it a charter. 

"The Governor must understand the responsibility he assumes if he refuses to sign 
this bill. It was passed by a vote of more than two-tliu'ds of the members of the Legis- 
lature, in answer to a great popular demand, and after a most thorough investigation 
and discussion in committee and in the two Houses. It is a wise, sound, and lionest 
bill. It promises a greater benefit to this city than any measure that has passed the 
Legislature since the act which authorized the building of the Crolon Aqueduct. It 
will be a blessing to all, the rich as well as the poor ; and if a few rich men now defeat 
it, they will harm themselves much, but they will harm the great public more. Let us 
see whether the Governor has the wisdom to serve the many, or the weakness to bow 
to the dictation of a few." — Nnu York Swi. 

"The Governor ought to sign this biU. It is not strange that an opposition should 
spring up to this plan of relief, nor that the opponents should be the men who will reap 
the largest benefit from it if it be carried out. These men have no sense of public in- 
terest, nor care for the growth of the city ; they do not see beyond the boundaries of 
their own corner lots, and they join the monotonous procession who exert all their force 
in holding back the horses. The}"- should adopt this as their motto : ' Progression 

732 



MELYILLK C. SMITU. 27 

checked and rptrogression c-nconrnged.' The Arcade lias the merits nf tho best route 
and the best ply.n, and tlie public interests, iacludiug the true interests of the men 
who oppose it, require the Governor to sign this bill." — T/te World. 

" A strong pressure will be brought to bear upon Governor Hoffman to induce him to 
veto the Arcade Railway bill, which passed the Legislature by such a handsome ma- 
jority. Already property-owners along Broadway have held a meeting to that end, 
which is said to have represented one hundred millions of dollars' worth of property. 
That is a considerable sum of money to stake against the interests of the people, and 
we should not be surprised if a dollar was found to be of more weight in the Executive 
Chamber than a ballot. Not that Governor Hoflftnan is to be bought off from signing 
this bill; but that the interests of certain propc'rty-holders, and tlie influence they can 
command, will overtop and overpower the interests of the people, who, through their 
representatives, have voted for the bill." — Globe. 

" The Arcade plan is good — it is feasiljle — it is grand. It is akin to the Suez Criual. 
It will, if carried out, help to make New York the wonder of the world. 

"The bill passed the Senate and Assembly by an unusual majority; so large that no 
question can be raised as to the favorable opinion of the members of the Legis^lature. 
The testimony of the first engineers of the country — the request for its passage by 
thousands of property-holders on Broadway — the demand for such relief for Broadway 
as this will bring — gave the measure extraordinarj'- features of recommendation. 

" Since its passage, and while waiting for the Governor to sign or veto, Belmont, 
Stewart, and the Trinity Church property trustees declare the bill shall not become a 
law. Inasmuch as it is presumptuous for the people to move without the consent of 
millionaires, it may be well enough to call a special session of the Legislature, and give 
all the affairs of State into the hands of those who never earned a dollar or gave em- 
ployment to a person — man, woman, or child — except for their own pleasure and iioliti- 
cal or financial aggrandizement." — Ncvj Yo7-k Democrat 

"The most important contest will evidently be on the Arcade Railroad bill. Perhaps 
never before v/ere such large and peculiar interests involved in any controversy on a 
bill awaiting I<]xecutive action. The hearing of the parties chiefly concerned on this 
question will render Wednesday a remarkable day in the Executive Chamber." — Tribune. 

"Deputations of the best citizens of Westchester county, and of the upper wards of 
New York, appeared in the Senate Chamber, earnestly desiring the signing of the bill. 
The statement of the engineers demonstrated the project to be feasible, and in no senpe 
chimerical. Several persons who went up to Albany to oppose the bill returned to 
New York hoping that it would be signed. Indeed, the enterprise, if authorized, will 
probably be the most popular ever set on foot in this cit?r. Its capacity for carrying 
passengers would be greater than all of the surface roads on the island." — Evening Post. 

'• Gov. Hoffman has sent to the Secretary of State, without his approval, the act au- 
thorizing the construction of the Broadway Arcade Railroad. His principal objection 
seems to be that nothing is required to be paid into the city treasury in return for the 
privileges which the bill professes to confer upon the railroad company. Considering 
that all the citizens ?.nd property-holders in the city would be immensely benefited hx 
it, this objection would seem to be much more captious than solid. The Governor 
might better have contented himself with refusing to sign the bill, and not have argued 
the question at all. 

"The simple truth is, th.^t Gov. Hoffman has succumbed to the pressure brought to 
bear upon him by some of the millionaires who own real estate on Broadway, and who 
fear that the Arcade Railroad may possibly diminish its value. He has taken the side 

733 



28 MELVILLE C. SMITH. 

of the r'uih an^ainat the poor; of the capitalist against the laboring classes ; of the aris- 
tocrats against the people. He has turned a deaf ear to the cry of the toiling thou- 
sands who demand cheap and rapid transportation between the upper and the lower 
part of the city, and listened only to the appeals of gentlemen with heavy bank ac- 
counts." — N'evj York Sim. 

"The long agony about the fate of the Arcade Railway bill is over. How much 
private 'pressure ' has been brought to bear on Gov. Hoffman the public never will 
know; but it is safe to say that it has been more severe and trying than was ever be- 
fore endured by any Governor in this country." — Evening Mail. 

"Governor Hoffman has sent the Arcade Eailroad bill to the office of the Secretary 
of State without his signature. We do not propose to review his reasons. An attempt 
to answer or confute them M'ould be as absurd, at this stage of the question, as for the 
defeated counsel 'in a lawsuit to offer to reargue the case after the judge had pronounced 
his decision. We have given expression to the public sense, and have advocated the 
Arcade Railroad because it seemed the most feasible and promising method of reacliing 
the desired result. The reasons which couvinccd us were indorsed by a strong body 
of public opinion, and by a large majority of both branches of the Legislature. We 
trust that the veto merelj-- postpones this great work for another year." — World. 

" The reasons assigned by Gov. Hoffaiau for not assenting to the Arcade Railway 
bill, though specious and specific, are not well founded nor honestly urged. The Gov- 
ernor's objections are not such as will commend themselves to the people of this city. 
Having made up his mind to defeat this purpose on behalf of our over-crowded streets, 
he assigns for it the reasons which come to him — not as a reason, but an afterthought. 
But how is the Governor to answer to the people of New York for denying them tho 
relief they so urgently demand ? In obedience to a few property-owners he has 
dwarfed the great city of proportions and defeated the most feasible scheme for build- 
ing up the neighboring counties in this State, while his action assures to New Jersej' a 
large part of our overflowing population. It passed a Democratic Senate and a Demo- 
cratic Assembly by large majorities, and was sent to a Democratic Governor for his 
Rauction. It passed because its passage was imperatively demanded. With Gov. Hoff- 
man rests the responsibility of the failure of a million of people to travel through New 
York as rapidiy as they could travel through London." — A^ew York Standard. 

" I met to-day Hon. Melville C. Smith, chief of the Arcade Railroad. Far from being 
discouraged, he told me that he was already planning to renew the contest, for Ihe fourth 
time, next winter, as the Governor's objections were aimed rather at the details than 
the grand principle of tho bill. Such sublime trust in the face of continued adversity 
would almost hallow and make worthy to succeed even a bad cause. Vive Smith of 
the Arcade ! " — Sijracuse Courier. 

W3 add a few of the closing paragraphs of an elaborate report, 
made, as will be noticed, by a large number of the most eminent 
engineers in the country : — 

"It provides complete accommodation for through and way transit of passengers 
and freight between the extreme limits of the island and along its main artery, 

"It furnishes an arcade avenue and promenade, well lighted and ventilated, conven- 
ient for pedestrians at all times, and with special advantages, in warm, cold, or stormy 
weather. 

" It can be constructed without interruption either to the travel on the street or the 
convenient use of the buildings adjacent, and without endangering any of the struc- 

734 



MELVILLE C. SMITH. 29 

tnres along the street, and with arrangements for a better location of the water and gas 
pipes and sewers than now exists. 

"The route selected, namely, that along Broadway, is determined by the topography 
of the island. 

" It in no case occupies or injures any private property, but in nearly all cases greatly 
enhances the value of the property along its route. 

"There are no difficulties attending the construction of the work which can not be 
overcome with engineering skill, and at a comparatively moderate cost. 

"Finally, it meets a necessity in the most complete and unobjectionable manner 

" (Signed) " George B. McClellan, John B. Jarvis, 

" William J. McAlpine, Silas Seymour, 

" EiiHERT L. ViELE, Charles H IIaswell, 

" Julius W. Adams, H. G. Wright, 

" Sylvanus H. Sweet, John Newton." 

"L F. QUINBY, 

Another report, still more elaborate, and made by a board of en- 
gineers of equal eminence and ability, closes as follows : — 

'■ Eighty millions of people cross the ferries annually to the lower end of the island, 
and tv/o hundred millions come on railways and steamers. It is for this great multi- 
tude, aud the myriads who for years to come will throng the busy marts of the world's 
great metropolis, that we are to provide. What the Erie Canal was to the Empire 
State; what the Pacific Railway will be to tl;e continent; what the Atlantic cable is 
to the world — great necessities of modern civilization — such will the Arcade Railway 
be to the city of New York ! And when it shall have been completed, and thronged 
through all the hours of the day and night, instead of being regarded as singular in 
conception, and a wonder in execution, the only marvel will be why it was not done 
before." 

The foregoing comparatively few and brief extracts, bear evi- 
dence of the importance of this great nndertaking, and the won- 
derful energy and consunmaate ability displayed by Mr. Smith in 
its management. In a contest where there are so many elements 
of prejudice, political chicaner^, and financial interests, real and 
imaginary, to contend with, the result is, of course, problematical ; 
but whatever may be the ultimate fote of the enterprise, the won- 
ders alread}^ accomplished demonstrate that its projector is a success. 

In personnel Mr. Smith is live feet ten inches high, and weighs 
about one hundred and sixty pounds ; has light complexion, brown 
hair, and a clear, penetrating blue eye, expressive of great earnest- 
ness and sincerity. 



30 MELVILLE C. SMITH. 

In this brief sketcli we have been able to give only a mere outMne 
of the characteristics of Mr. Smitli, with comparatively few of tiio 
important incidents of his life, and even these so incomplete in 
detail as to detract much from their signiiicance. The thoughtful 
reader, however, cannot be otherwise than impressed that Tt is a 
description of a remarkable man. If any part of it shall appear to 
the casual reader highly colored or extravagant, it will bo received 
far otherwise by those who know him best. To the writer of this 
sketch, who has enjoyed his intimate acquaintance from boyhood, 
it falls far short of expressing the power and possibilities of his 
nature. 

A man's life is so largely influenced by circumstances, that time 
alone can tell to what degree his real qualities will be externalized 
and developed to the understanding of his fellows. Only the un- 
written history which shall be revealed in the world to come, will 
tell with unerring accuracy of the many really great, whose jour- 
ney through life has never made manifest their natural superiority. 
History is crowded with achievements which were hardly indicated 
in the earlier careers of its illustrious men; and among those of 
our own times, including our present President and most of his 
predecessors, there was little in their early life foreshadowino- the 
successes in store for them ; and we write these closing lines of our 
friend, whom we so much respect and venerate, in the firm convic- 
tion that, if reasonably favored of fortune, he will more than verify our 
highest words of appreciation. Certainly, if fidelity to friends and 
kindness to all ; great earnestness and even greater patience ; high 
moral convictions and indomitable will ; clearness and comprehen- 
siveness of intellect ; strength and consistency of character, combined 
with " strong passions under strong control, constitute greatness," 
then is Melville C. Smith truly one of the world's great men. 

736 



